Jim Chrisinger: Government employees are just as smart, creative, and hard working as their private sector counterparts; they just have to work in a system with lousy organizational DNA. -promoted by Laura Belin

When we moved back to Iowa three years ago, our state was up and coming, a place that attracted young families, entrepreneurs, and the tech industry, as well as retirees like us. But now Iowa’s elected leaders seem intent on taking Iowa backwards: suppressing the vote, waging culture wars, and threatening public education.  

Imagine what Iowa’s elected leaders could do if they put their energies into governing to move us forward again.  

Governing means both the policies enacted and the nuts and bolts of executing every day. On the policy side, our elected officials should address the problems that hold Iowa back, like attracting more workers, providing child care, funding mental health, improving water quality, and expanding broadband.  

“Nuts and bolts” means the everyday processes of state government: issuing licenses and permits, maintaining roads and parks, enforcing laws, and more. “Nuts and bolts” means the way government works.    

Republicans and Democrats often disagree about policy but can agree on improving the way government works. Republicans emphasize more efficiency and Democrats emphasize more effectiveness. We can argue about how much government should spend, but we shouldn’t argue about the importance of getting as much value as possible from each dollar.  

Governing is hard work and under-appreciated. “Running government like a business” sounds good, but business people would find government challenging.  

State government has a 150-member, highly conflicted board of directors with more than half the members currently bashing the “business.” It’s hard to excel at anything you basically disrespect. Frequent elections mean little continuity and no long-term strategy. There is almost no research and development for this business and very little investment in employees.  

In business, plenty of upside potential awaits those who innovate, work hard, and take risks. Not so in government. Government managers and employees work in an environment awash in downside risk. The fear of mistakes, a newspaper exposé, or political embarrassment result in cover-your-backside behavior. Beyond the intrinsic value of work well done, there are few incentives to improve.   

Government’s activities are with some exceptions open to the press and public, another source of risk aversion. What would we find if businesses swam in the same fishbowl?  

Strong incentives to know what customers want and to be responsive drive business, so business leaders demand meaningful metrics and data. Because elected leaders rarely demand it, government work units often lack customer-centered metrics and good data.

One excellent business practice that some governments have adopted, including Iowa state government, is Lean process improvement. But again, a lack of demand and incentives limits its value.  

Government employees are just as smart, creative, and hard working as their private sector counterparts; they just have to work in a system with lousy organizational DNA.  

As we emerge from the pandemic, now would be a good time to assess and improve state government. From “working from home” to technology advances, new perspectives could inform new thinking. The government reinvention movement of the 1990s contributed to innovation and performance improvement in the first Branstad and Vilsack administrations and still has much to offer.  

Now would be a good time to empower a non-partisan government-business-nonprofit task force to assess current operations — especially the nuts and bolts — and drive improvement.  

Jim Chrisinger is a retired career public servant who worked in Democratic and Republican administrations, including the State of Iowa from 1996 to 2007.