Building A Winning Culture In Government. Patrick R. Leddin

Чтение книги онлайн.

       Chapter 1

       An Increasingly Pressurized Environment

      The challenge of operating in a constantly changing system

      -

      “All organizations are perfectly designed to get the results they get.”

      –Arthur W. Jones

      -

      As keynote speaker, Patrick was biding his time until his turn at the podium and watching the current presenter. The organization’s executive director was about ten minutes into her remarks, and the audience was engaged. Not a passive she’s the boss so we have to listen type of engagement; they were genuinely enthralled by her presentation.

      Her message aligned around a single theme: the organization needed to better meet the evolving needs of its customers. Although the organization had a stellar track record and an untarnished reputation, the leaders in the room needed to deliver higher-quality services on time, every time, and at the lowest cost possible. Theirs was a competitive environment, and if they didn’t raise their performance, someone else would subvert their efforts.

      In our work with clients, we’ve heard many similar presentations in many other conference rooms. The leader was dynamic, the argument was sound, and the strategy was clear. However, this wasn’t a multinational corporation or a mid-size enterprise trying to reach the next level. The leader who mesmerized her audience was in charge of a government agency.

      Her insights were spot-on. She understood that they were living in a world of diminishing resources, increasing scrutiny, and uncompromising demands. She had figured out that the organization was operating in an increasingly pressurized environment, and she was passionately conveying that message so that all in attendance would see and ultimately respond to the emerging environment by thinking and acting more effectively.

      The executive director explained that if they did not continue to improve, they would fall prey to a growing number of threats both within the larger government structure (internal) and outside of the government (external). From an internal perspective, other government organizations were competing with them for funding, technology, facilities, and personnel. Although these internal competitors had existed to varying degrees for years, the acceleration level was tremendous. In fact, these competitors were not competing simply for an extra employee or some additional funding; they were trying to take over her organization’s very mission. The other organizations were trying to consume them.

      Simultaneously, the external environment was riddled with pitfalls. Contractors were absorbing roles that had once been considered inherently government and off-limits to outsourcing. A wide range of stakeholders—including legislators, businesses, and everyday citizens—were actively questioning and intervening in daily operations. Fueled by a 24/7 news cycle, a staggering number of cable channels, and the ubiquitous nature of the Internet, these stakeholders insisted every mistake signaled an epidemic and required sweeping changes, and that shared mission signified redundancy that needed to be wiped out. Add to these realities increased security as a result of terrorism, a less than desirable job market, and a recovering economy. The organization had never faced an environment like this before. The executive director wanted each of her 300 managers to understand that in today’s world, poor customer service in one part of the organization or a scandal in another could threaten the job of everyone in the room.