Federal departments can only become more Transparent, Participatory, and Collaborative with outsiders (citizens) unless those same things are adopted INTERNALLY. Those qualities can only show up on the *outside* if they are valued on the *inside*.
However, federal departments do NOT have the internal openness that makes it *safe* for their employees (and those of contractors) to suggest ways to make their organizations "work better and cost less".
Now, you don't have to work for the government to know that it can be dangerous to one's career to suggest to your boss (or your boss's boss) that their office is operating in a "less-than-optimum" way (i.e., that they might be wasting money, and don't even know it.)
However, it is more dangerous for government workers to make such suggestions about "better ways" of doing work because, even if the idea is successful, it is the Public's money that will be seen as having been "wasted" in the past. And so, the employee's manager fears being second-guessed by higher-ups as to why didn't the manager recognize this "better way" earlier? And how is it that this "better way" came from a lower-paid underling?
WATCH THE VIDEO: Here's a very good (satirical) video about "Barriers to Innovation" that, even though produced by a team at NASA, is easily recognized by virtually every federal employee (except the new ones). National Public Radio did a story on it (along with a link to the video)--> www.tinyurl.com/as3son
SOLUTION: There needs to be a ONLINE SYSTEM system that allows government employees to raise ideas AND also protects their true identity. These systems already exist and Fortune 500 companies use them to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (following the WorldCom and Enron scandals). Anonymity is necessary because most government managers are comfortable with the status-quo and, quite naturally, take actions against those who would imply that current operations are somehow flawed. [BTW: The existing I.G. system is NOT safe.]
Yes, there ARE some enlightened managers in govt. who do encourage innovation and continous improvement, but they are relatively RARE. The vast majority of managers are not so enlightened and, as a result, the average employee is acting VERY rationally when they decide to keep their ideas to themselves!
And, BTW, those average employees will NOT start to act irrationally (by speaking up) just because the White House passes out awards to "champions" whose success is largely due to their blind luck in having an enlightened boss. There is no proof that V.P. Gore's "Golden Hammer" awards during the 1990's made any real change in the C.Y.A. mindset of federal managers.
This idea is important because nothing ever changes for the better until someone first says "Hey, why don't try it this way?" And, because there is always room for improvement in any organization (some more than others), we need to hear ALL the ideas that people have for improvements, ESPECIALLY from those who are the most familiar with the existing operations.
If the President wants to open up the operations of federal departments to allow for better public input and feedback, then he needs to give the "closet-innovators" working WITHIN those departments the same, if not MORE, of the freedom to challenge the status-quo without fear of reprisal.
BOTTOM-LINE:
If the President does NOT make it safe for federal employees to innovate (or to just point out waste), then they will NOT put their jobs on the line for him as "agents of change." If he wants to enlist them, then he must protect them from the enemies of change.
FOR MORE INFO about achieving government transparency (both internally and externally)--> www.UStransparency.com
Comments (9)
Why limit this suggestion to federal workers, open the field to all employees, be they federal civil service, military or contractors.
I have been involved in the IT security field for the better part of thirty years and have identified various ways to reduce paperwork and effort. Even the Certification and Accreditation of federal information systems can be improved and consolidated with a national database for the certification of information systems.
Dear fellow "Idea" brainstormers and commentors:
For news and moderated discussion (public, but unofficial) about the
continuing development and implementation of the "Open Government
Directive", you are invited to either:
1. send mailto:opengovernmentdirective+subscribe@googlegroups.com
2. visit http://groups.google.com/group/opengovernmentdirective
NOTE: Because I am posting this to the Comment section of some
(but not all) Ideas, you may see this message more than once.
I apologize for that.
vr,
Stephen Buckley
http://www.UStransparency.com
Exactly-- Federal government is visible to everyone, but our local governments (hell all the way down to PTAs and HOAs) tend to be the least-efficient, least-funded, and most incompetent. Let's construct 5 fewer stealth bombers and 100 fewer bombs, put that money into competent local management nationwide, and witness as our civil servants start to pull their heads out of their asses (no offense to those of you who are already doing fine jobs.)
In order to make our tax dollars work well, we've got to pay our government employees well and hire or train the best in their fields. That's how the military does it, and they get 50% of the federal budget. Let's spend our money on educating, not killing.
This is something that they have been trying to do but it just doesn't work under any administration.
You must understand that a government service employee has management then a layer of executives appointed by the president to oversee that branch of government.
When a employee finds a problem if it does not make management look good they will hid it.
Why? it is political. Remember how things went bad for FEMA in Katrina? And how Brownie was doing "a heck of a job".
This was an embarrassment to the administration. It would not matter who was president they are always looking for re-election. So, Brownie had to go because he made his boss look bad.
Well let's say I found a problem that was costing the government way more than it should, or was killing people or whatever bad thing you can think of...
I go to my boss with it... If it was his fault or he should have caught it do you think he will push it forward? NO
Then let's say I go to the "Hot Line" to report the problem. The management knows it was you. Because if you report waste the first thing they ask is did you go through management.
Now you get kicked out of your office job and are shoveling shit.
You think the courts will protect you with the laws that supposedly protect "Whistle Blowers", NOT TRUE
You see federal judges are just as political as elected officials.
They are after all appointed by the President.
No one wants to make one of the Presidents agencies look bad because it makes the president look bad.
Speaking from experience and someone that has gone through the entire system it is broken beyond repair.
Dear Commentors:
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on my
"Brainstorm Idea" for a more transparent
and open federal government (at least,
for the executive branch).
Even though the site for "Brainstorming" will
be open until June 19th, the second phase
will kick off June 3rd (Wednesday) with a
"Discussion Blog" (of some kind).
Not knowing how that "blog" will work, it
may be wise to keep this channel open if
we need to share thoughts about the how
this idea fares in Phase 2.
So be sure to continue watching for
email-notices about the new comments
placed here.
(If you are reading this on the web, and
want to receive email-updates of new postings
on this Idea, just leave any sort of comment,
and you will be kept updated.)
vr,
Stephen Buckley
http://www.UStransparency.com
I hate to break it to you but America is the land of the "Keep your mouth shut".
Even if you know people are dying.
Break your silence and you may die too.
I’m not kidding, when people heard what your government did to me, they were afraid to be around me.
Want to see the surplus money the US government and all states, local governments have? http://CAFR1.com and http://TaxRetirement.com
and support Campaign for Liberty
Surplus money: Google CAFR1 then you will see where the money is. also called The Biggest Game in Town.
Do a search in Google on "Government Wealth" then if you are inclined, support this man that has provided this great service for us that make up the USA. We need volunteers to audit their city, county, state, etc...