A Public Sector Journey to Operational Excellence

A Public Sector Journey to Operational Excellence

by Kate McGovern
Released September 2023
Publisher(s): Productivity Press
ISBN: 9781000959277

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

A Public Sector Journey to Operational Excellence links effective government operations to the ability to accomplish bold social goals. The book illustrates how the principles and techniques of continuous improvement can be applied to public sector management and public policy development.  The linkage of management to policy is woven throughout the four sections:

Part 1 begins with the history and application of the principles of continuous improvement (CI). Readers are introduced to Lean and related methodology.  CI principles are then juxtaposed with John M. Bernard’s categorization of three stages of maturity in government. Next, guidance is provided on how to launch a CI initiative in the public sector, leading to a discussion of public administration in theory and practice.

Part 2 examines the application of CI to governmental operations. Examples, such as the VA’s hiring process, underscore the need to Lean bureaucratic and regulatory processes.  Profiles of CI work in several states illustrate both the potential and the pitfalls, leading to recommendations for an optimal model.  

Part 3 acknowledges that among the responsibilities of government, the public policy function is the most difficult to Lean. It discusses the complexities inherent in government since the public policy is both a political and an administrative function. Toyota Kata methodology is illustrated, with its potential application to the challenges of policy development. It could be a force multiplier when civics and politics meet CI.

Part 4 links the promise of CI to make government more effective, enabling it to solve complex problems. Strategies are proposed to overcome the threats and sustain the gains in these initiatives. Cognizant of the many challenges, the book closes with a range of recommendations and a reflection on the purpose of government.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Endorsements
  3. Half Title
  4. Title
  5. Copyright
  6. Dedication
  7. Contents
  8. About the Author
  9. Introduction
    1. The Next Frontier for Practitioners: Lean for Social Good
    2. The Word “Lean”
    3. What’s in This Book
      1. Case Studies and Profiles of Practitioners
      2. Overview of Lean and Toyota Kata
      3. Tour of the Four Sections
  10. Section I The Foundation of Continuous Improvement and Operational Maturity
    1. 1 Introduction to Lean and Continuous Improvement
      1. Tracing the Roots of Quality Management
        1. By Any Other Name
    2. 2 The Three Stages of Maturity in State Government
      1. Maturity Level One: Reaction-Driven
      2. Maturity Level Two: Results-Driven
        1. Support for Results-Driven Work
        2. We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know
        3. Optimal Components for Results-Driven Government
      3. Maturity Level Three: Social-Good-Driven—Helping People Thrive
    3. 3 The Kaizen Concept
      1. Launching a Lean Initiative with a Kaizen
        1. Chartering
        2. Assessment of Value
        3. Expertise: Imported or Home Grown
        4. Funding Stream Barriers
        5. Integrating IT
        6. Learning Other CI Tools
        7. Training to Build Capacity
        8. Setting a Foundation
    4. 4 Lean Management
      1. A Management Trifecta for the Public Sector
        1. Government Is Different. And It’s Not
      2. Achieving a Culture of Continuous Improvement
        1. Failure to Launch
        2. Attrition Poses a Similar Threat
        3. Arrested Development Is Not All Bad News
      3. Story of a Lean Leader, the Impact of Lean Thinking, and the Culture of Continuous Improvement
      4. USNH
        1. A Lean Project That Streamlined an Administrative Process
        2. Envisioning an Ideal Future State
    5. 5 Theory and Practice
      1. The Theory of Administrative Conservatorship
        1. Motive Matters in Risk Avoidance
        2. Mission-Driven Public Servants
      2. Integration of Theory and Practice
  11. Section II Leaning Government Policy
    1. 6 Breaking Bad Bureaucracy
      1. Administrative Hazing: Intentional or Not?
      2. Unlean Bureaucracy
      3. Crisis and Opportunity
      4. Applying Lean Thinking to Program Design and Operations
    2. 7 The Goldilocks Standard for Lean Regulation
      1. The Customer Is Always Right. Or Not
      2. Assessing the Value of Regulation
        1. Leaning Permitting Processes
        2. Leaning Food Inspections
      3. Goldilocks Regulation for the FDA
      4. Discussion
        1. Lean View of Regulation
    3. 8 Moving to Results-Based State Government
      1. Mission Matters
      2. The “Night Shift” Persists in New Hampshire
        1. Commitment and Resilience at NHDES
        2. An Enduring Community of Practice
      3. Profiles of Robust State CI Programs
        1. Colorado
          1. CDOT’s Innovation, Improvement, and Engagement Hub
        2. Vermont
          1. Vermont’s Continuous Improvement Training Program
        3. Washington
        4. Highlights of Lean Principles
    4. 9 A Model for CI in State Government
      1. Sustainability in State CI Programs
        1. A Success Story in Arizona
        2. Essential Components for Results-Driven Government
        3. Ohio
        4. Nebraska
      2. A Standard Structure for State CI Programs
  12. Section III Leaning Government Policy
    1. 10 The Three Ps: Politics, Policy Making, and Public Administrators
      1. Cycles of Crisis Response
      2. Leaning the Thickening
      3. Does It Take an Act of Congress?
      4. Accountability, Personal Responsibility, and Trust
        1. Reducing Bureaucratic Burdens
        2. Leaning Hiring
        3. Leaning Regulation
        4. Leaning the Silos of Government
      5. Public Administrators as Conservators of Mission
      6. “Run Government Like a Business”: A Public Policy Parable
    2. 11 A Case Study of Unlean Public Policy: U.S. Health Care
      1. Lean the Virus
        1. Lack of a System to Face a Global Pandemic
      2. An Unlean Non-System
        1. Wasted Expertise and Effort
      3. Universality Applied to Health Care
        1. What Would a Cohesive Health Care System Look Like?
    3. 12 Applying CI to Public Administration
      1. The Eight Wastes
      2. CI Tools and Principles
        1. The Five Whys
        2. Fishbone Diagram
        3. Affinity Diagram
        4. Suppliers-Inputs-Process-Outputs-Customer (SIPOC)
        5. Systems and Strategy
          1. The A3
      3. Applying CI Tools to Operational Challenges
      4. Toyota Kata
        1. Starter Kata and Coaching Kata
        2. Application of Toyota Kata for Lean Practitioners
        3. Applying Toyota Kata to Community
    4. 13 Lean Policy Development
      1. Constructing Lean Public Policy
        1. Layers of Complexity
          1. The Military-Industrial Complex
          2. The Medical-Industrial Complex
          3. The Nonprofit-Industrial Complex
          4. Leaning the Complexes
      2. Lean Lens on Public Policy
  13. Section IV A Lean Future State
    1. 14 Leaning Government Operations
      1. Is Federalism Unlean? or a PCDA Opportunity?
        1. Potential Gain from Standardization across State and Local Government Operations
        2. Rework Is Unlean
      2. Challenges in Managing a CI Initiative
        1. Complexity in State Government Structures
        2. Turning Managers into Change Agents
      3. Threats to Lean Government
    2. 15 Continuous Improvement for Thriving Communities
      1. The Parable of the Babies in the River
        1. Leaning to Expand Capacity
        2. Fueling the Effort with Redeployed Capacity
        3. Public Sector Redeployment
      2. Tackling Complex Problems
        1. Medical Debt
        2. Examine the Problem from a Lean Lens
        3. Government and Community Partnership
        4. Results-Driven, Effective Public Policy
      3. Lean and Toyota Kata for Social Good
        1. A Holistic, Transformative Model
      4. Connecting Kata in Community to Level Three Government
        1. Leaning the Nonprofit-Industrial Complex
      5. Results-Driven Government as a Platform to Reach the Value Stream of Humanity
        1. CI and TK for Level Three Maturity
        2. Applying Toyota Kata for Incremental Change
        3. Looking to the Laboratories of Democracy
      6. TK, CI, and the Value Stream of Humanity
    3. 16 Diffusion of Lean Culture and Level Three Government
      1. How Do We Learn about CI?
        1. Kata in the Classroom
        2. The JPW Fund
        3. Professional Associations
          1. Continuing Education through Communities of Practice
          2. Recommendations for Public Administrators
      2. Continuing Public Sector Journey to Lean
        1. Advancing from Reaction-Driven to Results-Driven Maturity
        2. Every COE Needs a COOP
      3. Diffusion of Lean Thinking and Commitment
        1. To Promote the General Welfare
        2. To Insure Domestic Tranquility
        3. The Threshold of Knowledge
  14. Appendix A Deming’s 14 Points for Management
  15. Appendix B ASPA Code of Ethics
  16. Appendix C Applying the Lessons
  17. Appendix D Internal Training Programs
  18. Appendix E Annotated Bibliography of CI Literature on My Bookshelf
  19. Index

Product information

  • Title: A Public Sector Journey to Operational Excellence
  • Author(s): Kate McGovern
  • Release date: September 2023
  • Publisher(s): Productivity Press
  • ISBN: 9781000959277