Takeaway #1 – Government is more than people or policy. Government is process.
Takeaway #2 – We mistake bad outcomes with poor service but process is the more likely problem.
Takeaway #3 – Solutions are simple but difficult. You can take the first steps now.
When we think of government, we often think of people. Figureheads. Politicians. Administrators. But there is something much more powerful underneath.
With further investigation, we soon recognize a broader apparatus that surrounds officials and executives. We initially call it “bureaucracy” or “the deep state.” It’s big, faceless, and mechanistic, something akin to a detached corporate entity.
There’s something even below that. Dive further and you’ll find the bedrock that is quite mundane. You’ll find process.
This is what governs the government. This is what makes it run the way it runs. Our governments are bound and determined by processes you cannot easily see. When it is combined with the philosophical drive we refer as Rule of Law, you end up with a causal chain that looks like this:
Good process = good government = better communities.
The reverse can be true, too. Look no further than the housing crisis to see how this truth translates to our daily lives. Specifically, consider San Francisco. This beautiful city by the Bay has suffered a housing affordability crisis for decades. The reasons are many and process is one of the most powerful. Specifically, the development review process.
Not the mayor. Not the department head. Not the planning commission. Not the corporations or environmental interests or NIMBYs.
Just plain old process.
Because the power of the process leads to a hard truth first introduced by the brilliant W. Edward Deming. He is the person who essentially created a new discipline through his insights, one of which goes like this:
A bad process beats a good person [and good policies] every time.
Every. Time.
Think of the DMV. Or the TSA. Or the IRS. Or a customer service call center. We’ve all had terrible experiences with these entities. Why is that? Was the TSA experience bad because the agents were cruel? Probably not. I’ve met plenty of TSA agents and they have always been either very nice or very tired. Usually both.
So it isn’t the people. Not usually.
What about the policies? You know, the policies that prevent people from bringing deadly weapons onto planes? Could those be the problem?
I don’t think so.
The processes to administer those policies, however, are flawed. Even today, in the year 2023. Trouble is, we can’t easily see what makes it so bad. Or worse, we can’t see an alternative that is better. We normally just see the people and the policies and so those are what get the blame.
It takes significant effort to uncover the full story. Which is why Bilal Mahmood’s March 2023 piece for the San Francisco Chronicle is so terrific. With surprising data and clear graphics, Mahmood did the important work to help us all see exactly where the seed of progress currently resides in the Bay area. Want to fix the affordability crisis for that beautiful city? Start with the hard facts that fill the headline of this incredible report:
Mahmood understandably uses the word “bureaucracy” in the headline. It’s useful shorthand. But precision matters so I’ll replace that word with the more unwieldy term “development review process.”
Which is to say, the development review process fuels S.F.’s housing crisis. Read the article to see how. You will learn a tremendous amount about how government is actually a set of processes more than it is a group of people. These processes trap the people inside and outside the organization.
It begs the question: how do we fix this?
It may help to recognize what will not fix this. In particular, here are a few common solutions that never work:
Team-building exercises won’t help.
Performance incentives won’t create lasting change.
New leadership won’t solve it.
New equipment and software can be useful but not as much as you think.
The best solution requires a process of its own. It has many steps but the first three are the most important.
Step One: Acknowledge the right problem.
Nothing ruins a treatment like a bad diagnosis. The process is the problem long before people or politics come into play. So avoid the finger-pointing and defensiveness. It isn’t about any one person. It’s about the steps that are, and aren’t, taken with the work done today.
Step Two: Set a clear, measurable goal for success.
Do you know what a great process is supposed to deliver? It isn’t about the look of a flowchart diagram or the validation of a few customer testimonials. It is about performance. Regular, reliable performance. A great process is measured daily on how well it, and the staff involved within it, meet the standard that you collectively create. This is the stuff of Key Performance Indicators and service standards. It can start very simply with classic benchmarks like …
- Maximum number of days for initial review
- Maximum number of days for second review
- Percent of percent applications resulting in final approval
- Average days from application intake to final approval
Step Three: Engage staff in tactics for success
The front line will always remain the bottom line. If you talk to anyone—literally anyone—who works at City Hall, especially in San Francisco, you will see this firsthand. All you have to do is ask them a simple question: “If you could change one thing about the way you do your work, what would it be?”
They will give you an answer. If they don’t, it’s simply because they don’t want to cause trouble. Otherwise, you’ll hear ideas that directly relate to the processes they administer.
It could be a large change or a small one. Doesn’t matter. What does matter is that the question is rarely asked. Worse still, the answers are accommodated even less.
Why? Because other processes get in the way. It’s processes all the way down. And up. Processes all around.
None of it is meant to be lazy. None of it is meant to be foolish. That’s the hardest part—every bad process started with a good set of intentions.
But this might be the most important step because any new improvement must make it easier for staff to do the right thing. The only way that can happen is by giving staff the empowerment and flexibility to meet the new standards you create.
There are more things to be done (it’s a process of its own, after all) but these three steps are all things that can be done right now. This week.
Focus on the process, not the people.
Set a measurable, data-driven standard for success.
Work with staff to find ways, continuously, to reach and exceed that standard.
Sometime later, you’ll find a new set of challenges. You’ll reach a performance plateau and need help getting to the next level. This will be a good thing. The next step in the process.
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