The Reinventing Government Workbook

In this user-friAndly set of training materials, David Osborne andVictor Colon Rivera give managers and employees advice on how theycan apply the principles behind the reinvention revolution that ischanging the way government works. Designed for use in federal,state, and local governments, this workbook includes exercises,brain teasers, and discussion items to create an interactive,involving learning environment. The Reinventing Government Workbook is designed to help employeesat all levels understand the basic changes that are taking placeand how they can help contribute. The Reinventing Government Facilitator Guide provides detailed,step-by-step instructions on making the training experiencerewarding and memorable. It includes useful tips on designing thetraining program, instructions on using the workbook exercises,answers to frequently asked questions, and more.

"A landmark in the debate on the future of public policy."—The Washington Post.

A revolution is stirring in America. People are angry at governments that spend more but deliver less, frustrated with bureaucracies that give them no control, and tired of politicians who raise taxes and cut services but fail to solve the problems we face. Reinventing Government is both a call to arms in the revolt against bureaucratic malaise and a guide to those who want to build something better. It shows that there is a third way: that the options are not simply liberal or conservative, but that our systems of governance can be fundamentally reframed; that a caring government can still function as efficiently and productively as the best-run businesses. Authors Osborne and Gaebler describe school districts that have used choice, empowerment, and competition to quadruple their students’ performance; sanitation departments that have cut their costs in half and now beat the private sector in head-to-head competition; military commands that have slashed red tape, decentralized authority, and doubled the effectiveness of their troops. They describe a fundamental reinvention of government already underway—in part beneath the bright lights of Capitol Hill, but more often in the states and cities and school districts of America, where the real work of government goes on. From Phoenix to St. Paul, Washington, D.C. to Washington state, entrepreneurial public managers have discarded budget systems that encourage managers to waste money, scrapped civil service systems developed for the nineteenth century, and jettisoned bureaucracies built for the 1930s. They have replaced these industrial-age systems with more decentralized, more entrepreneurial, more responsive organizations designed for the rapidly changing, information-rich world of the 1990s.Osborne and Gaebler isolate and describe ten principles around which entrepreneurial public organizations are built. They: 1) steer more than they row 2) empower communities rather than simply deliver services 3) encourage competition rather than monopoly 4) are driven by their missions, not their rules 5) fund outcomes rather than inputs 6) meet the needs of the customer, not the bureaucracy 7) concentrate on earning, not just spending 8) invest in prevention rather than cure 9) decentralize authority 10) solve problems by leveraging the marketplace, rather than simple creating public programs. Reinventing Government is not a partisan book. It focuses not on what government should do, but on how government should work. As such, it has been embraced by both liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans.

Supplementary training for implementing organizational change The Reinventing Government Workbook: Package A: Introducing Frontline Employees to Reinvention provides supplementary training for government employees in the midst of change. Featuring a series of exercises designed to ease transition and facilitate effective change management, this workbook can be an invaluable part of the employee trainer's tool kit. This set includes ten copies of the workbook, helping trainers bring these activities and exercises directly into the classroom.

From David Osborne, the best-selling author of Reinventing Government and Victor Colon Rivera comes the training material you need to implement reform and renewal in government. Since the publication of Reinventing government, readers have sought hands-on materials for implementing the revolutionary concepts of this book in their own organizations. In the Reinventing Government Workbook and Facilitator Guide, David Osborne and Victor Colon Rivera give you the tools you need to effectively apply the principles behind the reinvention revolution that is changing the way government works The Facilitators Guide offers detailed, step-by-step instructions on making the training experience rewarding and memorable. It provides: The groundwork for understanding and preparing for the Reinventing Government Workshop and using the workbook **Suggestions, in checklist format, to help promote the workshop and foster communication with decision makers and potential participants **A checklist of ideas, suggestions, and items needed to run a successful workshop **Information in a step-by-step recipe format to assist you in introducing the workshop, managing the group, and running each of the four modules **Additional exercises and overheads designed for longer formatted workshops or courses **Reproducible masters that correspond to all overheads The user-friAndly workbook brings the pronciples of Reinventing Government to life, helps participants apply the principles, and inspires improved performance. It offers: A guide to developing innovative and better ways of conducting public business Tools and techniques to increase the effectiveness of your organization Examples of successful governments that are reinventing themselves today Designed for use in federal, state, and local government, the workshop material includes exercises, brain teasers, and discussion items to create an interactive, involving learning environment. It also gives you the flexibility to run a one-day, two-day or longer workshop.

"A landmark in the debate on the future of public policy."—The Washington Post.

* Melds theoretical models with practical experience * Written by world-renowned experts on public administration * Guides future policy debates on helping to build effective and efficient states How does a government seeking to participate in and benefit from an integrated and interdependent world become more professional, technologically proficient, deregulated, and accountable? Reinventing Government for the Twenty-First Century tells you how. The authors identify the forces of globalization and the structural changes needed to increase state capacity and enhance global-scale participation. Professionals directly involved in assisting governments show public leaders and administrators how to improve the quality of their performance in government.