As President Barack Obama enters his last year in office, one can't help but wonder what he might be thinking about his accomplishments in government management. The reality is, however, that his greatest impact can only come if the next administration continues what he started.

In fact, President Obama's final State of the Union was, in a sense, a call to action not only for Congress, but for his successor. There were hints of pessimism – call them lessons learned – concerning the federal government's ability to support everyday Americans through change. But there was also talk of a stirring vision, built upon initiatives that will take the best management the government can muster both at the end of his presidency and into the next.

For the president to have a transformative last year in office, and perhaps more importantly, for the next administration to manage successes early on, President Obama's evidence agenda must drive management and investment decisions. For example, when the president acknowledged House Speaker Paul Ryan's interest in tackling poverty, he said he'd welcome "a serious discussion about strategies we can all support." The reality is that so many of government's poverty programs, when evaluated rigorously, are shown not to work. Those precious few that do work are worthy of greater investment. Relying on data that shows which programs work most effectively is the best strategy for developing broad Congressional support.

When the president said "a thriving private sector is the lifeblood of our economy" and that "there are outdated regulations that need to be changed, red tape that needs to be cut," I could swear he was channeling Ronald Reagan. There is a lot in that statement – streamlining regulations that interfere unnecessarily in America's progress and reforming bureaucratic management systems that impede America's progress. That's a huge task and there's not a management or regulatory system in place in government that couldn't benefit from serious revision; many are badly broken. That's what many of the president's management agenda initiatives are designed to achieve. But it is important those initiatives are given the proper time to deliver results, and many may not be completed before the next president takes office. So it's all the more important that they survive this administration, regardless of who wins in November.

Many good-government groups – including the National Academy of Public Administration, the Partnership for Public Service, the Professional Services Council – are already working hard to help the upcoming transition from this president to the next. They are taking a hard look at management improvement initiatives to identify those worth keeping because they are making important progress solving longstanding challenges. Sustaining those initiatives through the next transition will be critical to ensuring progress continues and a longer-term vision is realized.

The president started his speech with a tinge of gratitude for "the constructive approach . . . leaders took at the end of last year" and the "hope we can work together this year on bipartisan priorities." He ended it with an acknowledgement that there are "a whole lot of folks in this chamber who would like to see more cooperation, a more elevated debate in Washington."

Indeed, if the president is going to get anything done in his last year in office – or if we expect to continue to make progress as a country in the years ahead – it will take greater collaboration, not only among the branches of the executive branch, but also among agencies, states, localities, and the private and non-public sectors. In order to achieve some of the broad vision for the future outlined by the president, it is more important than ever for the government to rely on rigorous performance data and evidence of what government can do to help. It's one of the only ways to bring those various constituencies together and enable our government to add value rather than inhibiting the progress the president and most of the rest of us seek.

Robert Shea is a principal with Grant Thornton LLP's Global Public Sector practice, and a former senior official at the White House Office of Management and Budget. He previously served as counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs. He served as the chairman of the board for the National Academy of Public Administration from 2013-2015.

Share:
In Other News
Load More