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In this book, Barrett and Greene will present evolving theories of performance management, the practices necessary for a good performance-based government, and the pitfalls that can easily be encountered along the way-andhow to avoid them.
List of contents
Acknowledgements
Preface
About the Authors
1. Overview
2. Challenges
Sustainability
The human element
Differing perspectives
3. Benefits
Exhibit A: Montgomery County
A catalogue of benefits
San Jose, California
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Indiana
Denver, Colorado
King County, Washington
Case Study - New Orleans: Shock Therapy
4. History
Progress at the state level
Our ringside view
Federal advances
Box: Building the federal performance infrastructure
Ups and downs
Alternate approaches
Box: Five major changes over the last thirty years
Case study - Service Efforts and Accomplishments
5. Outcomes
Knowing the goal
Box: The demise of Oregon Benchmarks
Striving for efficiency
Selecting top-level measures
Citizen surveys
Connecting to national measures
Case study - Washington: Cross-agency collaboration
6. Performance Budgeting
Performance budgeting legislation
Impediments
Attention to evidence
Budget execution
The environment matters
Case study - Austin: A budget with a vision
Case study - Illinois: Unrealistic expectations
7. Pitfalls
Insufficient resources
Lack of data expertise
Weak internal training
Counterproductive incentives
Slow response
Lack of sustainability
The practitioner-academic disconnect
Fear of adverse reaction
Too much hype
Flaws with targets
A limited focus
Neglect of intractable problems
Legislative indifference
Politics trumps management
Checklist: Rx for Pitfalls
8. Buy-In
Resisters
Accountability vs. performance improvement
Agency ownership
Stat evolution
A collaborative approach
Case study -- Colorado Q&A on achieving buy-in
9. Validation
Consequences of bad data
Bad data and drugs
Inconsistent comparisons
Data fudging and outright cheating
Verification
A path forward
Box: The roots of inaccuracy
Sloppy data
Ineffective system controls
Inconsistent information and changing definitions
Privatization/contractor/third party issues
Case study - New York: Changing the definitions
10. Data progress
Service delivery
Open data
Data sharing
Data governance
The push for more helpful data
Box - Outdated technology
Box: The path forward
Case study - Little Rock, Arkansas: Of data and human beings
11. Evaluation
Evaluation on the frontlines
Shifting the paradigm
Box: The evidence movement
Box: A cost-benefit approach
Case study -- Los Angeles: Solving a police recruiting puzzle
Resources
Glossary
Index
About the author
Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene are senior advisors and columnists for Route Fifty, senior advisors to the American Society for Public Administration, visiting fellows at the IBM Center for the Business of Government, special project consultants to the Volcker Alliance, editors at the International Journal of Public Administration, senior advisors with the Government Finance Research Center at the University of Illinois, Chicago, fellows in the National Academy of Public Administration and more.
Summary
In this book, Barrett and Greene will present evolving theories of performance management, the practices necessary for a good performance-based government, and the pitfalls that can easily be encountered along the way-and how to avoid them.
