Earlier this month, we wrote about the need for enterprise government, and the obstacles that make it so difficult to achieve in many administrations. So how might the next one overcome these obstacles?
We have some suggestions that emerged during a Sept. 16 roundtable discussion on how agency leaders can coordinate and integrate to drive successful outcomes, co-hosted by the IBM Center for The Business of Government and the Partnership for Public Service. To start, a couple overarching drivers can position the administration for enterprise government.
First, develop common, measureable objectives across agencies. In this way, agencies can act together to drive change, track progress in a transparent and verifiable way, and hold leaders accountable for progress. Second, make the clear case for agency participation and leadership engagement. Whether collaborating across agencies to achieve a mission outcome, or integrating operations, the benefits need to be made explicit to drive agency buy-in, shared among relevant agencies, and included in performance plans for leaders.
But then what?
Translate its governing priorities into clear goals
That requires a roadmap – identification of a manageable number of big ticket priorities that the president has committed to achieve, set an end goal, and define a strategy. It requires a hard look at existing initiatives and structures, without throwing the baby out with the bath water. Repurpose and re-brand, but don't start over. And it requires a cross-functional team in the White House to drive change. Why does the White House not have a chief operating officer that leads the execution structure for setting and achieving cross-agency objectives? Perhaps it should.
Leverage and rationalize the growing number of cross-agency institutions
Establish a governance structure and designate a lead office to help implement cross-cutting goals, then create an incentive structure to spur agency involvement.
Coordinate activities to deliver on goals and objectives
Most crises where government leads a response are best addressed through interagency collaboration; for example, the response to Hurricane Sandy would not have been possible without collective effort. The question is how to build that capacity into ongoing government operations that benefit from enterprise approaches but are not emergencies. An enterprise government can create a one-stop shop that blurs jurisdictional lines for stakeholders, such as veterans, students, or the traveling public.
Build on integrated approaches to efficiency
In recent years, OMB and numerous agencies have made progress that can serve as a building block for the future. For example, payroll went from more than 140 different agency payment systems to five; numerous agencies have migrated basic HR processing to approved public and private providers.
The key is common and repeatable processes, rather than reinventing approaches. GSA's category management initiative for acquisition provides an interesting model for other mission support functions. Establish cross-agency spending guidelines that incentivize agencies to invest in migration toward common platforms; for example, allow agencies and contract support services to retain a portion of achieved savings.
Perhaps the most important recommendation is this: to take the reins of a federal government that can build on efforts across multiple administrations to create a more connected and integrated government. As transition teams develop their plans, they can accelerate delivery on the president's priorities through enterprise government.
Dan Chenok is executive director of the IBM Center for The Business of Government. Alan Howze is a fellow at the IBM Center for the Business of Government ,and senior adviser and project manager for the Management Roadmap initiative between the center and the Partnership for Public Service.
