Transforming Government: Lessons From The Reinvention Laboratories

In government agencies across the country, managers and elected officials are effecting real change--and learning important lessons about what works and what doesn't in re-engineering government organizations. These reinvention laboratories represent a move away from rigidity and bureaucracy and toward the fluidity and flexibility required to effect positive change in today's public organization.

Transforming Government reveals the key lessons for managing reform being learned from the federal governments Reinventing Government program. Leaders will discover that success will be evident not in major, sweeping changes but in a series of small, but important steps; that leaders must look to the history of their own organizationsrather than at practices of othersfor solutions; that leaders must consistently provide resources for implementation, that strong, continuos leadership is central to reform, and more. The contributors draw directly from the expertise and experience of reinvention laboratories from the Department of Labor, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Internal Revenue Service, and others.

The contributors present strategic issues for change, discussing why the current bureaucratic model of organizing is ill-suited to todays challenges, and identifying what will replace it. They explore the tactics for change in public organizations, examining the repercussions of change for employees, identifying success factors for change and examining the crucial role leadership plays in successful change. The book then goes on to offer lessons for continuing transformation, dealing with such thematic issues as accountability and politicalcontext.

Transforming Government presents a look into the future of public organizations and sage advice on how to implement change effectively to succeed in that future.


This insider's guide reveals the key lessons for managing reform being learned from the federal government's Reinventing Government program. Leaders will discover that success will be evident not in major, sweeping changes but in a series of small, but important signs.
The contributors present strategic issues for change, discussing why the current bureaucratic model of organizing is ill-suited to today's challenges and identifying what will replace it. They explore the tactics for change in public organizations, examining the repercussions of change for employees, identifying success factors for change, and examining the crucial role leadership plays in successful change.
Transforming Government presents a look into the future of public organizations and sage advice on how to implement change effectively to succeed in that future.