Transcript No Slide Title

How to Audit Wicked Problems
J. Christopher Mihm
Managing Director, Strategic Issues
U.S. Government Accountability Office
18 June 2014
What Does 21st Century Governance Look Like?
• The types of issues that government confronts are growing more
complex and boundary-less (wicked issues).
• The approaches (policy tools) that government uses to address these
issues are wide ranging and increasingly indirect (hollow government).
• Citizen confidence in the federal government is at historic lows and
citizens are rightly demanding increased transparency and opportunities
for active engagement.
• All of this must take place in an environment where agencies are
stressed to develop and maintain the basic capacities they need
(austerity budgets).
• The bottom line: new ways of thinking, new management approaches,
and new personnel capabilities are essential to better serve our citizens
in the 21st century.
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Governance implications
• Focus on results that government seeks to achieve rather than on the
operations of any single program or state agency. This entails adopting an
enterprise or whole of government orientation (or even whole of society),
and looking more at policy coherence and the interplay of public policy
strategies.
• Use collaborative mechanisms and network management across levels of
government, sectors, and with the public.
• Build government capacity in new and different ways. Specifically, assess
the role of the center of government and the capabilities it needs.
• Manage systemic risk in addition to the operational and enterprise risk
confronting any single state agency.
• Expand opportunities for civic engagement, open government, and
transparency.
A simplified “logic model” or “program
pathways”
Inputs
• Staff
• Funds
• Facilities
Activities
• Management
processes
• Workflow
• Efficiency
measures
Outputs
• Products
• Services
delivered
• Clients
served
Outcomes
• Results
• Impact on
citizen wellbeing
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Using Results Mapping
Program
Program
Program
Program
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Build collaborative approaches and create
“virtual organizations”
• Crosscutting goals
• National plans
• Lead agencies/officials
• Interagency Task Forces
• Other coordinated solutions
• Consolidation/”Boxology”
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Key Features of Collaborative Mechanisms
• Outcomes and accountability
• Bridging organizational cultures
• Leadership
• Clarity of roles and responsibilities
• Participants
• Resources
• Written guidance and agreements
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Framework for public sector strategic
risk management
ResultsOriented
Management
Implementation
and Monitoring
Management
Selection
Risk
Assessment
Alternatives
Evaluation
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Transform organizational cultures
High Performing
Orgs.
Current State
• Output-oriented
• Stovepipes
• Hierarchical
• Inwardly focused
• Micro-managing
• Reactive behavior
• Avoiding technology
• Hoarding knowledge
• Avoiding risk
• Protecting turf
Source: GAO Analysis.
9 Key Practices
• Leadership
• Integrated mission and goals
• Clear principles and
priorities
• Goals and timeline
• Implementation team
• Line of sight
• Communication strategy
• Employee involvement
• World-class organization
• Results-Oriented
• Matrixes
• Flatter and more
horizontal
• Externally focused
• Employee empowerment
• Proactive approaches
• Leveraging technology
• Sharing knowledge
• Managing risk
• Forming partnerships
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Transparency and Open Government
Providing information and data to citizens in readily available, real-time, and
useful formats
• The Open Government Directive
• OECD Your Better Life Index, Performance.gov, Data.Gov, USAspending.gov,
Recovery.gov http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/
• DATA
• Civic Engagement:
• Open dialogues, e.g., DHS plans, health information technology and
privacy, recovery.gov.
• Agency blogs, eg OMB (whitehouse.gov/omb/blog), TSA (tsa.gov/blog)
• Mash ups, e.g., EPA and Puget Sound
• The possibility for place based performance information (Donald F. Kettl)
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Selected Collaborative Mechanisms for Federal Climate Change Activities, as of May 2011
Thank you!
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