Growing the Good and Slowing the Bad in Government

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Growing the Good and Slowing the Bad(in
Government the World)
Shelley H. Metzenbaum, U of MD SPP smetzenbaum_at_ver
izon.net AGA Professional Development
Conference and Exposition June 26, 2007
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My Objective

• Convince you performance measurement (and goals)
  must be
• Useful
• Useful
• Useful !!!
• Help you understand how to make that happen

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My Challenge to You

• Generate Numbers that Jump
• Off the Page and into .
• thinking
• conversations
• decisions
• actions
• to improve outcomes !!!

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Govt Objectives Two Types

• Good Things to Grow
• Man on moon in decade
• Quality of human, animal, plant life
• Courteous, predictable govt. processes
• Bad Things to Slow
• Illness, harmful events (fatalities, accidents,
  falls)
• Disparities/Inequities
• Errors (think Microsoft auto feedback)
• Non-compliance
• Discourteous and erroneous responses
• Fraud

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The Tools Five Basic Building Blocks

• Familiar
• Goals
• Measures
• Incentives (Positive and Negative)
• Less Familiar, but Essential
• Feedback
• Interactive Inquiry

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Objectives of G M

• Improve Outcomes
• Increase Accountability
• Strengthen Democracy
• Fits AGA/SEA
• Reporting Accountability
• Allocating Resources
• Management Decisions

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Why are Goals and Measurement So Valuable?

• Goals (Man on Moon in Decade, HP2010)
• Focus
• Communicate what will and wont do
• Motivate
• Measurement
• Communicates (reinforce goals)
• Motivates (like to do well)
• Illuminates (patterns, up, down, anomaly,
  unexpected)
• Informs Consumer and Electoral Choice

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How Goals Focus and Communicate

• Clarify expectations with agency, public, and
  legislators
• Targets stretch, steady rise, status quo, slip,
  abandon?
• Foster Care Incidents, Placements, HS Grad
• Enlist assistance/expertise
• Healthy People 2010
• Redefine regulatory relationship
• Coast Guard, San Diego restaurants
• Shared Objectives
• DOT safety across agencies and governmens
• San Diego kids, communities, environment

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Goals Strengthen DemocracyTee up Trade-Off
Discussions

• IRS - fairness or friendliness
• Forest Service - commerce, recreation, or
  habitat
• Homeland Security terrorism prevention, extreme
  weather preparedness, or both
• Police crime or police abuse, highway safety or
  revenues

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Measurement Motivates

• Like to do well
• Even without a target
• Past performance - de facto goal
• Peer performance - de facto goal
• Compare with care !
• Discourages some so better to
• Look for benchmarks for path forward and
• Find those needing help, punishing only if
  exceptionally recalcitrant

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Measurement Illuminates

• Detect problems and successes where, who, what
  
• Find problems needing attention
• Find program successes to replicate
• Find effective ways to speed uptake
• Diagnose problems and successes why, how, how
  big
• Assess relative risk
• Causal factors and precursor indicators
• Relationships

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Feedback Unleashes Power of Goals and Measures

• If no one discusses, why pay attention?
• Reinforce goal importance
• Suggest specific path forward
• Stimulate creative thinking

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Interactive Inquiry

• What? Goal-focused, Data-driven Interactive
  Inquiry
• Engage those with expertise, resources to review
  experience and choose path forward
• How? (Jim Collins, Good to Great)
• Ask questions why/how/who/what caused change
  and what might influence future change
• Dialogue and debate
• Conduct autopsies without blame
• Red flag mechanisms (warning lights)
• Why?
• Cooperation needed to improve most outcomes
• Other people have good ideas
• Brainstorming whole sum of parts

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Charles River Story
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Useful (NHTSA) Organize Info to Support Search
for Problems and Solutions
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Useful Organizing Simple Descriptive Info to
Support Analysis of OutcomesWho Has Which Laws?
(NHTSA)
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Useful Measurement Causal Analysis to Find
Problems and Solutions (NHTSA)
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Interactive Inquiry Enlist Others in Measured,
Controlled Experiments, e.g. Fed/State (NHTSA)
Average Baseline to Post Change in Seatbelt Use
Rate
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
8.6
2.7
0.5
Full Implementation States
Other Implementation States
Comparison States
Source http//www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/air
bags/clickit_ticket/clickitcomposite/clickit_compo
site.pdf
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Feedback Data-Driven, Audience-Focused
Campaigns (NHTSA)
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Useful Count/Characterize Unwanted Incidents To
Reduce Them (Fire Fighting Emergency Response)
Source NFPA
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Useful Measurement for Field Offices and
Regulated Parties (Coast Guard)

• Oil spill characteristics and fingerprints
• Incident characteristics e.g., ToD, DoW, WoY
• Tow boats and fisherman

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Useful Measurement to Inform Consumer Choice

• Registries of Motor Vehicles
• Licensing the current wait time is 002506.
• Registration the current wait time is001632
• Time of Day, DoW, WoY
• If showed historic averages, consumers could plan
  ahead demand mgt.
• Parents and schools Ed Trust, Great Schools

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Useful Measurement Govt. Data Base to Support 3d
Party Search for Success Education Trust
Aldene, TX Raises Achievement for All Students
While Narrowing Gaps
Source Texas Education Agency-Academic
Excellence Indicator System Report
1994 through 2001.
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Useful Goals and Measurement to Enlist and
Engage
Source http//www.chesapeakebay.net/pubs/Snap2k.p
df
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Bottom Line

• Goals and measures among most powerful tools
  available to managers, but
• Useless unless used !
• Not just for mandated annual reports
• For strategic and daily decision-making and
  communication
• Why is management/field use so limited?
• Fear? Assumed links to budget, pay-linked
  incentives
• Need to clarify accountability expectations
• Need to exercise great care when using external,
  esp. financial incentives

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Incentive Can Cause ProblemsSlams Scams,
Blame Claim

• Measurement Manipulation
• Scams, skimming, destruction (TX teachers, Enron)
• Timid Targets
• Failure to stretch, outcome avoidance, output
  affinity
• Claim Games
• Attribution (who gets credit?) problems
• Credit claiming, claim parsing, claim avoidance
• Employ Explicit Incentives with Caution
• First tap internal inclinations to do well and do
  good
• Create fear-free environment w/ clear
  accountability expectations. Avoid competition
  when cooperation needed

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When Explicit Incentives Work

• Opt-in contest to set performance records
  (bonus/prize)
• Woo goal-sharers and measurers with
  pre-performance rewards (grants)
• Gain attention to fixing a problem when high
  costs are involved (penalty threat)
• To find cost savings, when a portion of savings
  are shared across entire organization
  (gain-sharing)

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Fight Fear with Clear Accountability
Expectations Bratton
Nobody ever got in trouble because crime numbers
on their watch went up. Trouble arose if the
commanders didnt know why the numbers were up
and didnt have a plan to address the problems.
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Healthy Accountability Expectations Six
Essential Practices

• Outcome-Focused Targets
• A few challenging
• When dont exist, set
• When dont work, adjust
• Measurement Mastery
• Feedback Delivery
• Interactive Inquiry
• Cogent Strategies
• Implementation

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When Use 5 Building Blocks Wisely

• Good will Grow and Bad will Slow
• Outcomes
• Accountability
• Democracy
• Will All Rise Together

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Additional and Contact Info

• smetzenbaum_at_verizon.net 978-371-3099
• Power of Goals and Measures (KSG memo)
  http//www.ksg.harvard.edu/visions/performance_man
  agement/index.htm
• Performance Accountability http//www.businessofg
  overnment.org/main/publications/grant_reports/deta
  ils/index.asp?GID277
• Measurement Mastery http//www.cognos.com/pdfs/wh
  itepapers/wp_measure_to_comply_measure_to_perform.
  pdf
• Federal Use of State Data http//www.businessofgo
  vernment.org/main/publications/grant_reports/detai
  ls/index.asp?GID112