REINVENTING THE US GOVERNMENT – My journey continues…

                          “Rather than moan and groan about my government, 

                                    I choose to participate in making it better.”

I left Herman Miller in 1993 when I was appointed by President Bill Clinton to join his administration as the Director of the Federal Quality Institute. The institute served as the key learning resource for the Reinventing Government initiative lead by Vice President Al Gore. It was very difficult to leave Herman Miller and I vacillated a great deal whether to go. However, I was taught that when your country calls you to serve, you proudly step up to the challenge. It was also time for me to help tackle more of those systems I believed needed changing. Rather than moan and groan about my government; I choose to participate in making it better.

I entered a world I had no idea existed. Like many times in my life I fell down the rabbit hole, nothing was familiar. When I graduated from college the US Federal government was one of the most desirable and respectable places to work. Many baby boomers flocked to Washington, DC to work in the Justice Department, Department of Education and Health and Human Services; to make a difference. At that time the US Government only took the “best and the brightest”. It was a very exciting place to be. I applied to work there and was rejected; the competition was tough. But by 1993 things had changed. I walked into a world that had grown rigid and outdated. The culture seemed void of energy and excitement. People appeared apathetic and lethargic, even the young workers appeared joyless. 

At the Federal Quality Institute, we worked with the cabinet agency leadership teams, under the leadership of Vice President Al Gore. Our mission was to bring the state of the art leadership and management practices, ideas and tools from the private sector to help ignite the reinvention process. I recall one of my first meetings with a team of top-level bureaucrats. I came to the meeting ready to share some stories about how private sector companies were transforming their organizations. The Reinvention initiative was a mandate issued by an executive order from President Clinton so it was apparent from the moment I got there, that I was not genuinely welcome. They were there were mandated to be there. 

            “How do you want to spend the second half of your life?”

By this time in my life, I rarely went where I was not wanted. I had every intention of simply giving them a quick overview of the reinvention strategies and getting out of there. But as I looked at this team of people, I realized they were all about my age – Baby Boomers who had come to Washington after college. I asked them, “What brought you to the federal government?” People started telling their stories. The more they talked, the more energy filled the room. They told story after story about what inspired them to come serve their country and the difference they made in peoples lives. When the energy subsided I asked another question: How do you want to spend the second half of your life? They began to discuss how they might bring the spirit, vitality, vision and values back into their work. 

Somehow along the way, most of the spirit these people had originally brought to their work had been suffocated. The federal government rules, regulations and bureaucracy had replaced mission,vision, and values. The environment seemed to overwhelm any sense of creativity, or innovation, it was an environment that rewarded a slavish commitment to status quo and mediocrity.  Creative, intelligent people were smothered. The result was a culture of collective low self-esteem. People lost their confidence, enthusiasm the will to contribute their best. I am sure no one intentionally designed this environment to dampen the spirit, creativity and imagination of government workers. In some way we all (all Americans) colluded in allowing atrophy to set in our great institution.

I witnessed people who had come to serve their country, guided by a sense of service and a bold, hopeful vision for America, turn into critics and cynics. Still, despite these obstacles, I found success stories, DreamMakers transforming their organizations in the US Federal government, against tremendous obstacles. They exisited then and they exist today. Can we shine our light on the good? 

Have we have become so cynical, that we can only see the darkness?  Are WE colluding in the erosion of our government? 

                      “Believe, no pessimist ever discovered the secrets 

of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, 

or opened a new heaven to the human spirit”. 

 

                                      Helen Keller, Deaf, Blind Author, Political Activist

May all your beautiful hopes and dreams come true!

Michele

www.dreammakers.org