Since that beginning I've bounced in and out of the public sector (or should I say that I have "snuck in" and been bounced out). I've never stopped trying to get the incentives right although my understanding of public goods theory has grown so that all sides to any debate become apparent. My passion is for being part of producing public goods and getting it done not merely efficiently and effectively, but in a manner that delights citizens.
My experiences working as a state employee included evaluation research, lobbying for policy and budgets, department management, and agency leadership. I've had fun teaching some public management courses to graduate students, but the most fun being a mid-career student as a Bush Fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Our consulting efforts have gotten me involved with local, state and federal government in the United States and with international work (foreign governments, international organizations, NGO's) that I truly enjoy.
The customer metaphor is the tool that I have found most successful in reinvention work in the public sector. It is, also, the tool that I have seen most often misused and misunderstood. Selecting a customer is a powerful metaphor for focus and aligning incentives, but becomes weak gibberish when "everyone" becomes a customer of the public agency.
My greatest joys have been witnessing public employees succeed at changes that make a positive difference in people's lives. Among them:
- establishing an independent economic authority accountable to the people it serves to operate the wastewater services for Alexandria, Egypt;
- aligning incentives in performance contracting for outcomes that help kids in Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and
- transforming the debate away from advocacy group spats to customer needs at the Council for State Services for the Blind.
Give me a call at 651-227-9774 or email at jeff@psg.us. |
