ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

Unlocking the Power of City Data

Results for America

Does building a strong foundation of data lead to good American Rescue Plan (ARP) investments? Mathematica and RFA compared ARP Dashboard scores with What Works Cities (WWC) Certification scores. We found that Certified cities were better positioned to use data and evidence to promote recovery, economic mobility and racial equity through ARP funds.

Quarterly Updates on Federal Performance Progress

U.S. Office of Management and Budget

For the first quarter of FY 2024 (Oct 1 – Dec 31, 2023), OMB saw significant progress across each of its three priority areas. Presidential Management Agenda teams are leveraging data to expand workforce development opportunities, supporting growth for service delivery providers, and advancing federal procurement and financial management. The website provides new data details, such as the employee viewpoint survey dashboard.

Strategic Foresight: Empowering America’s Future

Baldrige Foundation

The Baldrige Foundation proudly celebrates the launch of the Federal Foresight Advocacy Alliance (FFAA), a new collective endeavor of leading foresight and strategy experts dedicated to the creation of a U.S. Office of Strategic Foresight to navigate the 21st century’s myriad threats, complexities, and opportunities. FFAA’s mission aligns seamlessly with the Baldrige Foundation’s emphasis on building resilience and long-term success across American organizations.

The Case for a U.S. Office of Strategic Foresight

Federal Foresight Advocacy Alliance

This new federal office will foster a whole-of-government futures strategy by gathering, analyzing, and synthesizing insights about emerging trends, potential disruptions, and future scenarios. It will also galvanize critical discussions on long-term challenges and opportunities driving our security, economy, and overall well-being of the nation.

Resource of the Week: Center for Strategic Foresight

U.S. Government Accountability Office

The Center for Strategic Foresight operates within GAO’s Office of Strategic Planning and External Liaison, playing the important role of analyzing trends that will affect federal agencies and programs now and in the future. It tracks 12 trends affecting government and society.

A Focus on Organizational Health

McKinsey & Co.

Some companies continue to survive and thrive despite the challenges. Why do these companies manage to succeed, year after year—operationally, financially, and otherwise—while others don’t? Twenty-plus years of proprietary McKinsey research tells us that one of the main reasons is organizational health.

Marines Come in First

Defense News

The U.S. Marine Corps passed a full financial audit for the first time, with the service announcing Friday its fiscal 2023 financial audit received an “unmodified audit opinion” after a rigorous two-year review. . . . The milestone — something the Defense Department and the other armed services still have not achieved — comes after almost two decades of trying to prepare the Corps’ records and several failed audits along the way.

CAP Webinar: Using Performance Data to Improve Customer Experience: Thursday, Feb 29, 1 p.m. Eastern

The goal is to organize around the customer, not around the delivery programs; research shows that when citizens feel they are treated fairly and professionally, trust in government increases. Our presenters have first-hand experience grappling with these issues and will be able to provide webinar participants with a real-time picture of the progress and challenges they face.

Resource of the Week:  New Federal Program Inventory

U.S. Office of Management and Budget

Years in the making, OMB has announced that it has released an inventory of more than 2,300 federal financial assistance programs that account for more than $3 Trillion in spending. It includes a search function, amounts of spending, and links to other federal spending and grants databases. The Inventory will expand in years to come to incorporate other federal programs.

CAP Webinar: Using Performance Data to Improve Customer Experience: Thursday, Feb 29, 1 p.m. Eastern

The goal is to organize around the customer, not around the delivery programs; research shows that when citizens feel they are treated fairly and professionally, trust in government increases. Our presenters have first-hand experience grappling with these issues and will be able to provide webinar participants with a real-time picture of the progress and challenges they face.

 Capacity Building for Evidence-Informed Policy Making

European Commission

This 2-year project promotes reforms in public administration and research & innovation systems for better evidence-informed policymaking. Seven countries will benefit from this project by developing tailor-made recommendations, capacity building workshops, and symposia. Countries include: Greece, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the Netherlands.

Data-Driven Strategic Planning

PATimes

“Every year, local governments invest resources, time and energy into strategic planning, and at the end of the process, they have a beautiful and aspirational document to share with the community and inspire staff. Then the plan goes on a shelf and gathers dust until someone decides years down the line it is time to run through the process again.” It doesn’t have to be this way, writes Tanya Settles. 

What Does “Accountability” Mean?

IBM Center for The Business of Government

Don Kettl writes: “Like it or not, it’s impossible to run a government without relying on experts. The ancient Chinese emperors discovered this and created the world’s first civil service system to hire the best and the brightest to work for the government.” These experts inevitably accumulate power and that power is hard to control.

Toward More Useful Federal Oversight

IBM Center for The Business of Government

Shelley Metzenbaum writes: “Well-executed oversight is an invaluable aspect of government operations. It complements program and cross-program implementation by increasing the likelihood that government spending and actions realize their intended benefit.”

Learning Agendas Offer Promise to Improve Federal Strategic Planning

IBM Center for The Business of Government 

Woody Stanley writes: “the Evidence Act requires agency leaders to develop annual evaluation plans and a multi-year evaluation plan, also referred to as a learning agenda, which should lead to better internal coordination and greater consideration of data and evidence in the strategic planning process.”

From Predicting to Scenario Planning – The Fate of the Colorado River

Washington Post

In a shift from a Fortan-based prediction model, those who rely on the Colorado River for water are now testing water-sharing strategies with the Bureau of Reclamation’s new web-based tool that harnesses more than 8,000 possible futures of the river to see how policies stand up against the wild swings and uncertainties brought on by the warming climate.

Maryland Partners with Arnold Ventures on Evidence on Proven Programs

Governor Wes Moore

Through their new partnership with the State of Maryland, Arnold Ventures will provide up to $20 million over the next four years in matching funds to select programs engaged with governmental entities—such as state and local agencies, county and municipal governments, school districts, and public colleges and universities—to scale and expand proven effective social programs in workforce training, education, and crime prevention.

2022 Symposium on Performance Management: Now Published

Public Performance & Management Review

The Marc Holzer Public Performance symposium elicits participation from various countries. In particular, the 2022 symposium was very engaging with 20 panelists and 3 main speakers, and all shared excellent insights on performance management in government. Presentations and proceedings are now available via this special issue of the journal.

Is the Strategic Performance Management Certificate for You?

National Center for Public Performance

Stu Griefel provides an overview of Suffolk University’s Strategic Performance Management training certificate in this YouTube video.

Resource of the Week:  Handbook on Measuring Governance

Peter Triantafilou and Jenny Lewis

This international Handbook maps historical developments, theoretical conceptions and key approaches, and summarizes what is known about measuring governance from a variety of fields of practice: “We treasure what we measure.”

Using Data to Improve Program Delivery: A Case Study

U.S. Department of Commerce

Improving program data practices is one of many aims of the Commerce Data Governance Board (CDGB). To support bureaus in their evidence-building practices, the CDGB chartered the Metrics Working Group in August 2022.The Metrics Working Group was specifically set up to uncover obstacles and explore pathways for improving the use of data for program design, delivery, and evaluation.

Opportunities for Improving Management when Budgeting

IBM Center for The Business of Government

In this report, author Steve Redburn outlines a series of challenges and opportunities for using the federal government’s budget processes to improve results in numerous management areas, including technology, analytics, and shared services. It includes specific, practical recommendations for action.

Local Benchmarking Without Finger Pointing

Barrett & Greene

North Carolina’s long-standing benchmarking efforts have been built on the idea of constructive comparison. For many years, the UNC School of Government benchmarking initiative, which has been a model for others since its inception in 1995, was led by well-known authority in the field, David Ammons. New director, Obed Pasha, took over about a year and a half ago. This article and webinar update efforts to date.

16 Habits of Highly Effective Governments

IBM Center for The Business of Government

This two-part summary of insights from Drs. Praja Trivedi and Marc Holzer distill their decades of scholarship and practice on improving government performance in the U.S. and internationally. It is the basis for their proposed “Government Performance Management System” and the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Generally Accepted Performance Principles.

Part 1: Habits #1-#4

Part 2: Habits #5-#16

What Do We Mean by “Evidence?”

Results for America

Results for America is sharing new definitions of “evidence-based” and “evidence-building” that it believes will help pay the way for governments to more clearly and effectively shift dollars to what works and deliver better results for all. It includes both definitions and examples. 

Maryland State Plan 2024

LinkedIn Blog Post

Twelve months into his administration, Maryland Governor Wes Moore rolls out a State Plan via a townhall videocast to an audience of more than five thousand state employees that details the plan’s ten priorities. It is the state’s first statewide plan in a decade.

Resource of the Week:  UNC Benchmarking Dashboard

Established in 1995, the North Carolina Benchmarking Project allows municipalities to compare their service and performance trends with other participating units. The Benchmarking 2.0 dashboard, launched in 2022, streamlines data collection and analysis and expands opportunities for robust peer-to-peer conversations and best-practice development.

The Power of Evidence to Drive America’s Progress

Results for America

Over the past 10 years, the federal evidence-based policy ecosystem has expanded exponentially. This expansion has primarily focused on developing capacity within federal agencies and increasing federally supported evidence production. This report documents the progress.

Too Much Data, Too Little Time

Barrett & Greene Report

Regardless of the validity of a cause, aren’t there instances in which gathering mountains of data is potentially counter-productive?

Focus on a Growth Culture, Not Performance Culture

Harvard Business Review

Many C-Suite leaders are focused on how to build higher performance cultures. The irony, we’ve found, is that building a culture focused on performance may not be the best, healthiest, or most sustainable way to fuel results.

Resource of the Week: Equity Indicators Project

CUNY Institute for State & Local Governance

Equity Indicators is a comprehensive tool developed by the CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance (ISLG) that helps cities understand and measure equality or equity in their city. There are currently six Indicator cities participating in this initiative.