Dan Combs, former head of e-Gov for Iowa and a long-standing member of our community who has most recently been working on identity and security issues. Dan took the contest within a few hours of the late-night posting. Enjoy the Kelman book, Dan!

The 'Come let us reason together' phrase comes from the bible's Isaiah 1.18 or, as in Marty Wagner's response:

"Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord
though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow;
though they are red like crimson they shall be as wool
If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land
but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken."
Isaiah 1:18-20

My context, however, was the frequent use of the phrase throughout his career by LBJ. For an interesting interview by Walter Cronkite with then candidate for Vice President LBJ, see: http://www.jfklink.com/speeches/joint/joint260960_johnsonprofile.html
The quote comes about half-way down…

While my demographic hypothesis about the winner proved about right, my reasoning chain was faulty. I thought that those remembering LBJ would remember this quote at least vaguely, and thus it would be my generation - more or less - with the edge.

The truth of the matter, however, is that Google (apologies to other search engines) has changed all this. The world for this kind of competition is much flatter than it used to be. Instead of trying to remember where he heard it, Dan simply put the words into Google and - voila - there is was.

So, we can find things like this MUCH faster than before. Now maybe you should send me some more examples of how to use that capacity to make smarter decisions.

Onward.

[Note: The first one to correctly identify where the quoted phrase comes from wins a copy of Steve Kelman's new book: Unleashing Change: A Study of Organizational Renewal in Government -- a book that's right on for the issues we've been pursuing. (I have side bets on the demographics of the winner…)]

...We had a really successful session this week on designing and implementing cross-boundary initiatives. Presenters/ presentations included:

1. Ron Rosenthal, who directs the US Navy's $1 billion SAP implementation for 500k users

2. Scott Campbell, past CIO of both Ontario and British Columbia, on Ontario's e-health initiatives, including the implementation of a common electronic medical record (lessons here for David Brailer's NHIN initiative)

3. Marty Wagner, who makes the rules for GSA's procurement efforts on behalf of one out of every three US federal employees

4. Oakland County Michigan's CIO Phil Bertolini and PMO head Janette McKenzie, on the free wifi blanket they are deploying in their jurisdiction, where one out of eight Michigan citizens live.

5. Jaques Dube, Deputy Minister in New Brunswick and the president of Service New Brunswick, the province's single window services approach that combines a new organization and funding model with an infrastructure serving walk-in, call-in, and over-the-Internet service transactions

6. Corinne Brody, who is leading a county-wide performance management system (dashboard) deployment in Dade County, Florida

7. Ivar Tallo, Director of Estonia's E-Governance Academy; Estonia's efforts are widely recognized as a global model for cross-boundary e-gov services

... And others including Gopal Kapur, Al Essa, and Warren McFarlan (with his 40-year perspective on what's changed and not change in the arena of leadership challenges).

At the Harvard Policy Group meeting that followed, we also previewed preliminary materials for a multi-media KSG case featuring Michigan CIO Teri Takai on economic development efforts there, and heard from NYC DoITT Department head Gino Menchini on some of his challenges...

The big theme as we continue into various cross-boundary futures: that our critical challenge remains judgment and leadership on the people/political dimensions of what we're doing.

Emerging from this, the project we're organizing for our November 15-16 session focuses on how political leaders (elected and otherwise) see these issues and make the judgments required for success.

Last time we sent out a single-page version of guidelines for designing and implementing IT-based reforms: https://www.3ecompass.net/blog/

But a page may be not quite enough for a topic this big? You want/need more?

OK, the next level can be found in the Compass diagnostic, a survey that introduces major concepts for project design and management. We'll link you to that diagnostic below.

When you're done, you should have a better sense of where you feel strong and not so strong in your project management approaches. You'll also have a chance to see how you compare to others who are taking the diagnostic. (If you want to compare yourself against more people, come back later and do it again...)

This will also introduce what we'll cover at the June 20-22 workshop. We'll start that workshop with an evaluation of this 'starting line' survey.

For most folks, it takes about 45 minjutes to run through the full Compass diagnostic. The link below takes you to a funny looking screen, but it should work (who knows, this is the first time we've tried this...) Click at the top where it says answer the survey. As you go through, you can usually proceed at the bottom of a screen by clicking the 'next' button. If there is no 'next' button, look to the left-hand navigation column where the sections of the screen should be listed and click in the next link below the one you're working on.

Good luck. Enjoy. And let us know what you think!

Here it is: http://www.3ecompass.net/dotlrn/classes/3e/leadership/programmanagement/survey/

The Formula. Here's a formula for designing IT-based initiatives, especially cross-boundary initiatives. It won't, of course, absolutely guarantee success (Hey, this stuff is hard!). It will, however, help avoid all-too-common mistakes. The formula:

[(V - T) x F] max, where

V= Design for long-term social value, not just your agency's immediate hurdles
T= Design for the full transition: org change as well as technology
F= Design for feasibility: political as well as technological and economic
max = Balance the above, then maximize results against the 'big picture' competition

Applied well, the formula produces a good target or destination. However, once on the implementation journey, what does it take to deliver success?

The Implementation Gauge. What you need is to respond well to pressures that push projects off course. Specifically, you need to gauge forces of confusion and conflict, then apply the right mix of the following:

1. If confusion is high, communicate to share the vision and learn what's needed
2. If conflict is high, coordinate and negotiate to align incentives and maintain focus
3. If confusion and conflict are both high, change and control the project through decisive action, but avoid too-frequent changes and scope creep
4. If confusion and conflict are low, cruise ahead with a lighter mix of all the above, measuring progress through objective feedback and critical milestones

Again, success takes skill (and perhaps luck) with all the above.

How skillful are you, and what are your top needs for improvement? Our June 20-22 workshop will serve as a 'tune up' opportunity for your projects, working with you to apply the above concepts in some depth. Here's the full agenda: http://www.3ecompass.net/content/June_2005_Description_Agenda

My next note will offer a diagnostic survey to help interpret these ideas and assess how important they may (or may not) be for you and your organization.

Stay tuned, and let us know what you think.