Article 17. Comparing Terms for Government: Auditing, Restructuring, Reform, and Efficiency.
I have discovered that the meaning of the terms currently used in government for: auditing, restructuring, reform and efficiency are often confused and misunderstood. The reason for this is the approach for bringing under control and managing State Government is almost always from the top down driven by the need to control excessive waste and spending. This is not a bad approach because this has to be done. It consists of stopping waste ASAP though auditing and reforming government. Reforming government means the elimination of or the reduction of any government activity. It also includes the reorganization of the reporting structure commonly called restructuring.
The confusion is with the word “efficiency” the above activities are often referred to as introducing efficiency into government. This is a great leap of faith and perhaps hope for the above activities have little to do with real efficiency. Changing the top structure or patterns of spending misses the point government still does not know what the real costs should be. Therefore budgets are negotiated from estimates which are not much better than guesses.
Real efficiency in any organization is based on work measurement. The basis
for the two approaches I have introduced in my articles, Cost and Schedule and Work Improvement Teams. For recommendations on when and how each should be applied see: Article 12. “Which Approach to use in State Government ‘Cost and Schedule’ or ‘Work Improvement Teams‘”. Efficiency in government starts by determining the best set of processes to perform a function and measuring how long it takes to complete the processes. Performance is monitored on a timely basis and reported to upper management becoming the input for determining the next years budget.
Consider the following analogy: if government spending is like the bucket in a well and it loses water through holes as it is drawn up out of the well. The “auditing” process is used to find the holes and plug them. What little water that finally gets to the surface is used for public services. What is meant by “efficient” government is too often a bucket that has all of its holes plugged. But if “reforming” the process leads to the installation of a submersible pump based on solid engineering science, “efficiency”, you can deliver water directly to the kitchen sink leaving no losses to be “audited“.
California’s Governor Schwarzenegger implemented the California Performance Review (CPR) in late 2004, an all out effort at fixing the states budget problems. In Volume IV Issues and Recommendations, Chapter 1. General Government, under “Making Government more efficient” you will find a perfect example of the confusion of the term “efficient” with “reform”. Under this heading is a list of government reforms all from the top down point of view and suggesting a more efficient government. I am convinced that efficient government functions will never become a reality as long as this confusion exists.
