David Osborne has worked with the governments of several countries, helping them devise ways to improve their performance. He recounts his experiences to Forbes India
David Osborne
He is Senior partner at The Public Strategies Group, a consulting firm. Also author of five books including the New York Times bestsellers Reinventing Government and Banishing Bureaucracy.
The Difference he makes Advices public organisations on how to develop and implement strategies to improve their performance.
Key Insight “You can’t skip the steps of controlling patronage, corruption and creating an independent judiciary that ensures the rule of law.”
What has changed about 21st century governance?
Why do things need to change? Bureaucracy stood for centralised, hierarchical decisions made at the center at the top; deliver standardised services to mass market. They build the same roads, same education, and offer uniform services. They are built to do that and control that through rules and regulations and ignore results. Customers of bureaucracy have no power, their customers can’t go elsewhere, and they are often monopolies. During the industrial era bureaucracy was the best way for public administration. At that time there were no computers, workforce was not educated, and communication was not as good.
What are some of the things governments can do to build result-oriented governments?
Competition. It makes them compete. Another powerful strategy is you make public organisations earn revenue in a competitive market place, like say in schools that focuses them. Third is performance management system that pushes them to be results oriented: Rewards for success, punishment for failures; financial bonuses for organisations that improve performance. Or change the management of the organisation; if a school is failing year after year, it’s not unusual for the district to go and take over the school in the US.
While talking about change management, anything you do differently in government vis-à-vis business?
In business you can take rational steps that are painful – like layoffs or close down a part of the business and justify to owners that we have to survive.
(This story appears in the 19 February, 2010 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)