HOW TO RUN

A GOVERNMENT SO THAT CITIZENS

BENEFIT AND TAXPAYERS DONT
GO CRAZY BY MICHAEL BARBER
Stanford University
9 April 2015

@michaelbarber9
#howtorunagovernment

Introduction

 ... The book has a

moral purpose. More people
are likely to lead more
fulfilled lives if they
live in countries with
effective, accountable
government.
How to Run a Government p. xxiv

Whether your political

preference is for a
minimalist state or a
much larger one, you
have an interest in
government being
effective at what it does.
How to Run a Government p. xxiii

The quality of the pe

ople is clearly much
Better. But the results
are worse. The qualit
of the people is clear
The quality of the people is clearly
much better. But the results are
worse.
Tip ONeill

We tried to do better
but everything turned
Out as usual. We
tried to do better but
everything turned out
We tried to do better but
everything turned out as usual.
Viktor Chernomyrdin

Priorities

Socialism is the lang

uage
of priori
Socialism is the lang
uage of priorities. S
Socialism is the lang
Socialism is the language
of priorities.
Aneurin Bevan

A map of delivery

Controversy
without impact

Transformation

Successful
delivery

Boldness
of reform

Status quo

Improved
outcomes

Quality of execution

Organization

There was a politica

confidence, even sw
about us; but it was b
of our popularity with
the country, not our
There was a political confidence,
even swagger about us; but it was
born of our popularity with the country,
not our fitness to change it.
Tony Blair

How not to think about implementation

Decide policy

Implement it

Results

How to think about implementation

Decide goals
and policy
Begin
implementation
and learn

Keep
learning and
drive for results

Refine policy
and innovate
if necessary

Refine policy
and innovate
if necessary
Continue
implementation
and learn more

Strategy

Communication cou
ld ea
break d
own
in spraw
ling complicated enc
wreathed in smoke.
Communication could easily
break down . . . in sprawling,
complicated encounters
wreathed in smoke.
John Sugden,
Nelson: The Sword of Albion

Five paradigms of system reform

Choice and
compe--on

Strategic
Direc-on

Community engagement and mobiliza-on

Planning

In preparing for batt

I have always found
that plans are useles
s but planning is indi
spensable. In prepa
ring for battle, I have
In preparing for battle,
I have always found that plans
are useless but planning
is indispensable.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

It becomes our duty

to se
things
as they
really a
divestedof all disguis
It becomes our duty
to see things as they
It becomes our duty
to see things as they really are,
divested of all disguise.
William Hooper 1776

On track

Exams detailed trac lights (2/2)

O track

March 2015

No ac<on / unknown

Ac-on

Responsible

Timeline

Comments

23 Iden<fy areas of improvement in conduct and

develop ac<on plan for improvement

PEC

Con<nuous

Co-developing plan with

PEC on further improving
exam conduct for next year

24 Evaluate exam results using new item analysis PEC

soQware and iden<fy areas of improvement in
test construc<on, items, and in student
learning outcomes

30-Sep-15

Analysis to be carried out

aQer comple<on of data
entry

PEC

30-Sep-15

To be prepared aQer analysis

of PEC results

26 Ini<ate item development for PEC 2016 exams PEC

based on codied process for developing and
eld tes<ng items.

15-May-15

Work plan made for item

development for 2016
exams

27 Align strategy for improving Grade 9/10 exams SMU

in line with improvements to PEC exam with
HED and exam boards

31-Jan-15

Pending based on Secretary

Higher Educa<on decision

25 Prepare report for DSD and PCTB based on

analysis of PEC results

21

Delivery chains

Person responsible for delivering the results (Me)

Director of the National Literacy Strategy

15

Regional Directors

150

Local authorities, each with someone playing my role at local level

400

Literacy consultants

19,000
190,000
3.5 million

Head Teachers, each with a literacy co-ordinator (so another 19,000)

Teachers teaching literacy hours
Children, lapping it all up

Trajectories

Performance

TARGET

NOW

Time

3. AVAILABILITY AND FUNCTIONING OF FACILITIES

On or above trajectory

22 districts are on or above trajectory

Close to trajectory

Dec 2012 facili<es vs. trajectories

District
Green
D.G. Khan
Jhelum
Sargodha
Rajanpur
Chiniot
Sialkot
Pakpadan
Muzaargarh
Gujrat
Nankana Sahib
Adock
Rawalpindi
Faisalabad
Lahore
Sahiwal
Lodhran
Mianwali
Jhang
Okara
Multan
Bahawalpur
Sheikhupura
Amber Green
Vehari
Chakwal
Khushab
Amber Red
T.T. Singh
Layyah
Bhakkar
Narowal
Rahimyar Khan
Bahawalnagar
Kasur
Red
Khanewal
Mandi Baha Ud Din
Hazabad
Gujranwala
SOURCE: PMIU

Performance

Target

76.7
95.1
96.6
75.0
92.8
92.6
93.5
89.2
96.9
91.2
93.5
91.1
94.9
98.9
95.9
94.1
90.4
90.4
92.8
93.8
89.9
90.9

71.0
91.1
93.1
71.6
90.0
90.0
91.9
87.7
95.5
90.0
92.4
90.0
94.0
98.3
95.3
93.6
90.0
90.0
92.6
93.8
90.0
91.3

97.2
95.2
89.1

98.0
96.0
90.0

96.0
87.7
87.5
88.2
86.2
86.5
91.2

98.0
90.0
90.0
90.8
89.6
90.0
94.8

92.3
94.9
86.7
88.5

94.8
97.6
90.0
92.3

Made some progress not

close to trajectory

Delta

Signicantly o track

5.7
4.0
3.4
3.4
2.8
2.6
1.6
1.5
1.4
1.2
1.1
1.1
0.9
0.6
0.5
0.5
0.4
0.4
0.2
0
-0.1
-0.4

Adock

Mianwali

-2.5
-2.7
-3.3
-3.8

Jhelum

Gujrat

M.B . Din

Khushab

Sargodha

Jhang

Layyah

D.G . Khan

Muza-
argarh

Faisalabad

T.T
Singh

Khanewal

Sialkot

Hazabad Gujranwala

Bhakkar

Sheikhupura
Nankana
Sahib
Lahore
Kasur

Okara

Sahiwal

Pakpadan

Vehari

Multan

-0.9

-2.7
-3.3
-3.5
-3.6

Chakwal

-0.7
-0.8

-2.1
-2.3
-2.5

Rawalpindi

Rajanpur

Rahimyar Khan

Lodhran

Bahawalnagar

Bahawalpur

Narowal

Routines

People underestima
te the
impor
tance of
diligen
ce as a virtue. Peop
le underestimate the
importance of diligen
People underestimate
the importance of diligence
as a virtue.
Atul Gawande

The budget-cutting
meetings took place
once a week at 9.
30am on Fridays
before the session
Coolidge and the deficit

The budget-cutting meetings took

place once a week at 9.30am on
Fridays before the session with the
full cabinet at eleven.
Amity Shlaes p.254

In all 126 spies have

fallen
into our
hands
Of thes
eighteen gave thems
elves up voluntarily;
In all 126 spies have fallen
into our hands. Of these eighteen
gave themselves up voluntarily;
twenty-four have been found amenable
and are now being used as
double-cross agents.
MI5 monthly note 1943

Eleven characteristics of a good stocktake

Problem-solving

No experience of fai
ure
of his p
olicy could shake his
belief in its essential
exellence. No exper
Ience of failure of his
No experience of the failure of his
policy could shake his belief in its
essential excellence.
Barbara Tuchman
on Philip II, King of Spain

The implementation dip

Performance

TARGET

Time

Kto vinovat? Sto del

eliat
Kto vin
Kto vinovat?
novat? Sto deliat?
Sto deliat ?
Kto vinovat? Sto de
ovat? Sto deliat? Et
Kto vinovat? Sto del

Clear

Clarity of solution

Unclear

How big a crisis is it ?

Small

Large

Problem size

Dealing with a crisis

Irreversibility

Legacy My predece
ssor
was an
Idiot and my success
or is a traitor. My p
redecessor was an
Establishing a legacy

My predecessor was an idiot

and my successor
is a traitor.
Saying quoted by
Julio Frenk, former Minister of Health,
Mexico

Im reminded of that
Belgian
car th
t broke
the wo
rld land speed record
in 1899 . . . the name
of the car was La Jam
Im reminded of that Belgian
car that broke the world land speed
record in 1899 . . . the name of
the car was La Jamais Contente.
Dalton McGuinty
Premier of Ontario 2003-2013

Ever-widening circles of leadership

Guiding
coalition

System
leaders
Unit leaders
Workforce
Consumer/citizens

So they go on in a
strange paradox,
decided only to be
undecided, resolved
to be irresolute,
So they go on in a strange paradox,
decided only to be undecided, resolved to be
irresolute, adamant for drift so we go on
preparing more months and years precious
perhaps vital to the greatness of Britain for
the locusts to eat.
Winston Churchill

Conclusion

Government by spasm

Government by routine

Everything matters

Clear priorities

Vague aspiration

Specification of success

Crisis management

Routine oversight

Guesswork

Data-informed

Post-hoc evaluation

Realtime data

Massaged impressions

An honest conversation

Remote and slow

In touch and rapid

Present-focused

Future-focused

Hyperactivity

Persistent drive

Soundbites

Dialogue

Announcements

Change on the ground

The danger . . . lies

not in the least in the
Concentration of pow
in competent and ac
hands. It lies in havi
the power insufficien
The danger . . . lies not in the
least in the concentration of power
in competent and accountable hands.
It lies in having the power insufficiently
concentrated so that no one can be
held accountable for its use.
Theodore Roosevelt 1909

HOW TO RUN
A GOVERNMENT SO THAT CITIZENS
BENEFIT AND TAXPAYERS DONT
GO CRAZY BY MICHAEL BARBER
Stanford University
9 April 2015

@michaelbarber9
#howtorunagovernment