GROWTH & JUSTICE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 29, 2011

CONTACT:      Dane Smith
                       President
                       651-251-0728 or 651-675-6360
                       dane@growthandjustice.org

New report outlines ways to improve the
culture of government and sustain innovation

ST. PAUL – In a new report, Transforming the Culture and Machinery of Government Toward Sustained Improvement, Growth & Justice Senior Policy Fellow Jack Ditmore outlines broad principles and specific recommendations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Minnesota’s public sector.

Recommendations include:

• Government leaders at all levels should be conducting more regular organizational assessments to find opportunities for increased effectiveness and new ways of doing business, while building mutual respect and trust that all involved are seeking the common good.
  
• A government improvement clearinghouse – a center that provides information and resources for improving organizational performance – could be established to help state and local governments.
  
•  A venture capital fund – with both intellectual and financial resources for early-stage, high-potential startup ideas for investment in innovation and transformation of public service delivery – could be established so governments can afford the up-front expense of cost-saving redesign.

The new report, by Jack Ditmore – a respected administrator with 35 years of experience in state and local government – outlines many examples of current and ongoing progress, and cites numerous awards for innovation from Harvard University and the University of Minnesota’s Public and Nonprofit Leadership Center.

“We really are seeing energy and progress on the good-government front,” said Growth & Justice President Dane Smith. “This ranges from the recent formation of a bipartisan Minnesota House Redesign Caucus, to the Beyond the Bottom Line report by our state’s blue-chip foundations, to the proposal by the Association of Minnesota Counties known as the MAGIC Act. In our report, Jack Ditmore summarizes some of this activity and progress, but more important, he provides lessons in how to think and how to change the culture and attitudes in government, as well as offering specific policy and program suggestions.”

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Click here to download the report (pdf).

Click here to read our recent op-ed commentary making the case for constructive transformation and redesign of our public systems.