When kids take classes on government in high school and college the picture painted is not actually what's really going on. Yes, we wish our citizens to submit to at least some authority, so we can run our civilization correctly, so everyone is on the same page, and that we all trust the government which we have created.
Still, the reality is that much of our government is inefficient, and it has become an overbearing bureaucracy. This happens with any large complex system, whether it is a corporation, agency, nonprofit, or even an army.
If you've ever wondered about all this, and wondered what we can do to fix the problem, there is a very good book I'd like you to read. This is book that I own personally, and one that I have had a chance to read several chapters and skimmed through the rest. The name of the book is;
"Banishing Bureaucracy; the Five Strategies for Reinventing Government" by David Osborne and Peter Plastrik, Addison Wesley publishing company Inc., New York, New York, 1991,(397 pp); ISBN: 0-201-62632-2.
You may recognize David Osborne's name, as he was also the co-author of; "Reinventing Government" and he has served as a senior advisor for VP Al Gore. This book is broken into three parts; "Part One; Is Finding Your Leverage, Part Two; Is the Five Strategies, in Part Three; Using the Strategies." In part one the authors discuss this similar principles of Sun Tzu for instance know yourself, and know your enemy, or in this case the challenges you face.
Part two discusses "the Five C's" which are "core strategy, consequences strategy, customer strategy, control strategy, and culture strategy." These strategies could work in almost any type of business, nonprofit or government agency. They might even work for a sports team, and perhaps this is why the book is so profound. The core strategies for any government organization are pretty cut and dry, and they have to do with the "mission statement" or the reason for the existence of the agency.
Unfortunately, there are many government agencies at many levels that are so far away from their intended mission statement that one has to wonder why they exist, what they are doing, and what their purpose, or usefulness really is anymore. The authors address this very issue.
The consequences strategy obviously has to do with what you hope to achieve, and all too often government agencies make rules and regulations or set forth procedures that are diametrically opposed to their mission, worse they are almost impossible to follow, and they end up tying the agency into a situation where they become ineffectual. Luckily, after the authors explain this they give strategies to overcome it too.
When it comes to customer strategy, the authors suggest that since a government agency is working for the people, the taxpayers, and the constituency, that it needs to listen, and there is no sense on providing what is not needed, wanted, or ill afforded. The authors give case studies to address these points. The control strategy are mechanisms that must be put in place but cannot be overbearing, which brings us right into the culture strategy of working to change the mindset of the employees in the agency.
It is my belief that you should read this book, and also follow it up with some philosophy from Ludwig Van Misses, and his famous work called; "Bureaucracy" and in doing so I believe, you will begin to understand why government is needed, why it's not working, and what we can do to fix it. Indeed, hope you'll please consider all this.
Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes in efficient government.
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