Carrier Pigeons

I work for the Federal Government (capitalized not in this case to convey any grey-suited respectability upon me, but to convey the massive, plodding monolith that it can be). Someone four or five levels up from me needs to know something that I know. She tells someone under her to report this info when he gets it, he tells his people to report that info to him when they get it, and so on, all the way down to me. Once that message has gotten to me (thankfully this one’s a standing order so days aren’t wasted just to let me know to do something), I can react, and give that info out. Sometimes that info may need to be doctored or sterilized or whatever, but not this info. Not ever. But it does have to be sent up the chain, from one person to the next, or people’s noses will get bent out of shape. Did I mention that this info needs to be conveyed quickly?

This could have been written in 1924, in the days of expensive telegraph messages, carbon paper, and carrier pigeons. When I send something out in 2006, though, I use email, which allows for CCing everyone who needs to see the info, flattening the organization, and speeding things way up. But our management style is cemented to 1924, cutting Mercury’s winged feet off everything from email to collaborative content management systems.

Here’s a once in a blogtime event: I’m about to compliment our President. The Presidential Management Agenda is a smart move that so far has been fairly successful. Sure, it’s simplistic, but it quickly tells someone with a limited attention span whether an agency is successful or not (it even uses stop light colors for increased clarity: Keep It Simple, Stupid), and it suggests where changes may be necessary. Further, it's identified ways in which the system is supposed to embrace egov initiatives, modernize communications, etc. Where it falls short, though, is in internalizing the concepts of sharing information and shifting reliance from chains of command to networks (crazy as he is, Admiral Poindexter’s right about stovepipes). The huge majority of egov initiatives have focused on things like putting existing forms online without looking in the mirror at our processes and organization.

If we the people want to actually make government respond to our needs cheaply and effectively, we need to do three things. First, force CIOs into the limelight, with definite responsibilities, mandates, and rewards. Second, convince kids with green hair and home-made blogs that there is somewhere that they can make a difference. And third, enforce their autonomy and good ideas on the dumb old animal that is the federal system so that they will.