I can sum up GAFL732 in four statements, which together serve as a good context for analyzing this week’s readings on performance measurement:
1. Public management is unique because of managers’ responsibility to the public.
2. Organizational culture counts.
3. One achieves results through leadership and influence.
4. Performance measurement changes the conversation.
1. Public management is unique because of managers’ responsibility to the public.
Public managers face a distinct form of scrutiny because of their stewardship of the public’s trust. Both Behn and Wye focus on the negative aspects of public scrutiny resulting from increased focus on performance measurement– that such scrutiny is an obligatory nuisance, something to avoid or postpone. But they fail to address the positive aspects of performance measurement and public scrutiny – that they represent opportunities to educate the public on government work and to demonstrate good stewardship of its resources. That the public holds its managers accountable to more than just “profitability” – fairness, honesty, and quality are other desired outcomes – can be seen as a crushing burden or a rewarding opportunity.
2. Organizational culture counts.
Initiatives can only survive in contexts conducive to their success. Performance measurement is no different. Wye lists almost forty complaints that those seeking to implement performance management systems will undoubtedly encounter. Good public managers use Wye’s responses to these complaints to convince the skeptics and develop consensus. They are careful to take baby steps, like using existing data collection methods and thinking incrementally, to shepherd everyone in the same direction. And they create organizational cultures that are open to performance measurement, and to working across departments and up and down the organizational chart to foster a shared commitment to accountability.
3. One achieves results through leadership and influence.
The “right answer” is merely the first step in a leader’s work. In order to actually effect results, he or she must then mount a successful PR campaign to influence others to get on board. Wye suggests identifying your audiences, crafting your message to each group, and managing these messages to ensure consistency and persuasiveness. It is an inherently political process, and effective leaders know how to influence that process to carry through their initiatives.
4. Performance measurement changes the conversation.
Behn knows that an increased focus on evidence leads to increased scrutiny and heightened expectations. Wye also acknowledges this fact and offers useful albeit reactive responses. But neither speak of the positive ways in which measuring performance changes the conversation. Good public managers are eager for the evidence to bring to light the effectiveness of their work. They know that holding people accountable to results will spur them on to greater productivity. And they are able to use the evidence itself as a driver uses his dashboard, to identify problem areas and make data-driven decisions.
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