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 National Performance Management
Conference October 30-31, 2006
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My Objective

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

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My Challenge to You

• Generate Numbers that Jump
• Off the Page to
• People .
• to their thinking
• to their conversations
• to their decisions
• to their actions
• in order to improve outcomes !!!

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Govt Objectives Two Types

• Want Good Things to Grow
• Man on moon in decade
• Quality and years of life
• Timeliness, customer satisfaction, confidence in
  govt
• Want Bad Things to Slow
• Illness, Health Disparities
• Accidents (highways, air, rail, chemicals,
  workplace)
• Errors (Microsoft auto feedback 311, hosp.,
  etc.)
• Non-compliance
• Late, rude, erroneous responses
• Fraud

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The Tools Five Basic Building Blocks

• Familiar Building Blocks
• Goals
• Measures
• Incentives (Positive and Negative)
• Less Familiar, but Essential Blding Blocks
• Feedback
• Interactive Inquiry unless one person can fix
  it !

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Objectives of G M

• Improve Outcomes
• Increase Accountability
• Strengthen Democracy
• Fits neatly with AGA/SEA Interim Obj.
• Reporting Accountability
• Allocating Resources
• Management Decisions

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Emphasis on Useful, Useful, Useful
Subtle, but Significant, Attitude Difference !

• RA Compliance or Audience use? who, when,
  where, how
• AR Budget Battle or Find Investment Worthy
  Projects ?
• MD the Key Indicator !
• Managers for Strategic/Daily Decisions
• Front Line for Field Decisions/Actions
• Authorizers/Appropriators/Media What and How
  Govt Agencies Work
• Attention to the Fear Factor Essential

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Why are Goals and Measurement So Valuable?

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

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Specific Goals, a Few that Challenge

• Specific
• Time, Place, Population, Quantity
• Absolute, compare to past and to peers
• Challenging
• 1 in 10 ?
• If meet all targets, no challenging ones!
• Too Complex?
• Tasks, Learning, Capacity Building Goals

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Goals Focus and Communicate

• Clarify expectations in organization
• Stretch, steady rise, status quo, slip, abandon
• Foster Care Incidents, Placements, HS Grad
• Clarify expectations with public and legislators
• Enlist assistance/expertise from other agencies,
  private sector, NGOs, experts (Healthy People
  2010)
• Redefine regulatory relationship (Coast Guard)
• Shared Objectives (DoT safety across agencies and
  intergovernmental SDiego 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 relative to a goal
• Even without a target
• Past performance sets a de facto goal
• Peer performance sets a de facto goal
• But compare with care !
• Is peer group right?
• Comparison discourages some so better to
• Compare to find benchmark for path forward and
  those needing help, not to reward or punish (with
  some exceptions)

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Measurement Illuminates

• Detect problems and successes where, who, what
  
• Find problems needing attention
• Find program successes to replicate
• Diagnose why, how problems, successes occur
• Relationships
• Causal and precursor factors

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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
• Hawthorne motivational effect

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Implications of Feedback Importance?
Audience-Focused Data Handling

• Return data to performance contributors in format
  they can use
• Identify key audience(s)
• Field, other government, vendors, regulated
  parties
• Requires attention to who, where, when, how
• Behavioral change needed? Stages to change
• Awareness
• Understanding
• Acceptance
• Behavioral Change

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Interactive Inquiry

• Why?
• Few societal outcomes improved by one person, one
  organization acting alone
• What?
• Engage those with responsibility, resources,
  expertise, replicators in discussion of past
  performance and path forward (CompStat, NYC on
  homelessness, culture-appropriate)
• How?
• Lead with questions, not answers.
• Engage in dialogue and debate, not coercion.
• Conduct autopsies without blame.
• Build red flag mechanisms.
• Source Jim Collins, Good to Great

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Useful (NHTSA) Organize Info to Support Search
for Problems and Solutions
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Useful Count/Characterize Unwanted Incidents To
Reduce Them (Fire Fighting Emergency Response)
Source NFPA
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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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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 for Field Offices and
Regulated Parties (Coast Guard)

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

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Feedback Data-Driven, Audience-Focused
Campaigns (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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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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Goal and Measurement Use It or Useless!

• Measurement Illuminates, Communicates, Motivates
• Illuminates Detect, Diagnose, Assess,
  Disseminate
• What works that should be replicated?
• What doesnt that should be fixed?
• Goals Focus, Communicate, Motivate
• But wont work if fear and uncertainty overwhelm
  potential

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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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Consider Fifth Building Block Incentives

• Why
• Motivate ?
• Strengthen Accountability ?
• How what kinds of incentives
• Internal or External Incentives?
• Reward or Penalty ?
• Financial or Other ?
• Who Organization/group/individual ?
• What
• Target attainment ?
• Performance relative to others, to past ?

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Incentives Can Work

• Post-performance rewards for opt-in contest to
  set performance records (water cons.)
• Pre-performance rewards (e.g., grants) to woo
  goal-sharers and measurers
• Post-performance penalty threats to gain
  attention when costs are involved (NAAir QS)
• Shared cost savings across entire organization
  (Maricopa gain-sharing)
• Other examples?

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Incentive Can Cause ProblemsSlams Scams,
Blame Claim

• Measurement Manipulation scams, skimming,
  destruction (teachers in TX, Enron, hospitals)
• Timid Targets failure to stretch, outcome
  avoidance, output affinity
• Claim Games attribution (who gets credit?)
  problems
• credit claiming, claim parsing, claim avoidance
• Use incentives sparingly let intrinsic instinct
  to do well and to do good thrive by creating a
  fear-free environment w/ clear accountability
  expectations. Consider perf. unit carefully.

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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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Accountability for What? Six Essential
Practices (OMFICI !)

• 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

• Emphasize performance improvement by detecting,
  then illuminating what works (to replicate) and
  what does not (to fix)
• Emphasize audience-focused communication
• Neither compliance-oriented nor fearing
  punishment, then
• 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