Understand the government and enjoy success in high government jobs. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 9th thing you need to know before your first day on the job.
Posted December 20, 2009
Learning from senior officials in other countries.
Dear Frank,
Thanks for your advice. I signed up for a public speaking class just to learn some techniques for making speeches, so hopefully by the time I need to, I'll know how it's done.
I had dinner with a friend last night who suggested that I could learn some lessons for my new job from the governments of other countries. Is this true? Are the governments of other countries similar enough to ours that there could be examples for me to follow?
That idea interests me because as you know, I've always followed world affairs and been interested in what other nations do. What do you think about my friend's idea?
Yours, Fernando
Dear Fernando,
I think your friend is right.
One time in Cyprus, on a chartered bus, I talked with Wu Choy Peng, the CIO in Singapore. She led her nation state to earn many awards in electronic government. She told me that her government outsources everything it does in order to build an industry to create national wealth. She said it took her eight years to learn to manage all of the outsourced programs.
Because they depend so much on contractors, the government of Singapore appraises vendor performance monthly and levies penalties or awards bonus points on a monthly basis. This allows both parties stay on top of a program and institute corrective action before the problems run out of control.
The lesson I took from our conversation, and now pass on to you, is, deal with contractor problems immediately. If you think something is going wrong on a project, investigate it. The contractor will probably tell you everything's fine, but don't take their word for it. You may end up stuck with an underperforming contractor while you pay too much for substandard work
Obviously, our government doesn't depend on contractors as much as Singapore, but we use them enough that we need to manage them effectively. Singapore’s experience witjh outsourcing is just one example of how the experience of another country's government can provide useful insight into your job. It is important to reach out beyond the Washington D.C. boundaries for good ideas that others find workable. From time to time, look at these sites for ideas that may by useful in your job.