A Day in the Life of a Fool
In the fine tradition of Y2K, re-engineering, the dot-com
illusion, SAP and the Holland Tulip scheme early in the
17th century, there is another train headed down the
tracks that goes by the name of e-government. Its arrival
was noted by C-SPAN, my favorite TV channel and research
site, in its recent broadcast of the summer
Governor’s Conference. On stage were a senior
partner in Accenture (the new name for Andersen
Consulting); re-engineering guru Michael Hammer; and an
IT specialist, who took us through a typical day when
e-government becomes a reality and reaches its full
potential.
Here is a taste of the day the IT specialist
forecasts:
- We begin the day on our computer, receiving a
welcome message, a thought for the day, and a summary
of what the day has in store for us. On the screen is
our schedule, major meetings, and a graphic listing of
projects that are important and urgent, projects that
are important but longer term, projects that are
unimportant and urgent, and projects that are
unimportant and in no hurry at all.
- Next we turn to a screen that gives us a detailed
project management summary of the status of the urgent
and important projects. Each project has its own bar
chart, its own color coding to indicate elements in
trouble and places ahead of schedule, budget status,
staffing, milestones, and a color-coded display of the
morale and motivation of each of the major
players.
- E-mail is next. We triage the e-mails and flag
them into categories of very important, extremely
urgent, and immediate attention. We will answer the
e-mails late in the day or in the
evening.
- We turn next to our human resources management
screen. On this we can monitor the cost of phone calls,
by each direct report, we get a summary of Internet
abuse so that we might consider possible corrective
action.
- We are then reminded which performance appraisals
are due. To ease our workload, we can choose from a
menu of personal performance characteristics. After we
rate an employee, the program will translate our
judgments into paragraphs of positive feedback language
to be presented to the employee. These are sent to the
employee and they are reminded of their right to a
conversation if absolutely necessary.
- Next we log into an electronic conference call
concerning zoning variations for the construction of a
strip mall in an area covered by wetlands restrictions.
The site map, the regulations, the proposed
construction, and the history and profile of the
developer are all available to me, only a click away.
The developer also has access to this data
online.
- After the call, we can turn to the business
development screen that gives the status of our
marketing effort to bring companies into the downtown
area. This program gives me a list of prospects and the
content of our last contact with them, it lists their
interests, their strengths, weaknesses, and
opportunities. It also lists their preferences for
food, humor, social distance, and any other special
needs they might have.
I could go on, but the future that the
IT specialist offers us becomes apparent. Even though I
took a little editorial license with the possibilities,
there is inherent—almost religious—belief in
this world that organizations, government in this case,
will take a big step toward better serving its citizens
by automating itself and managing its world through
electronic technology. It is this belief that I wish we
would examine carefully, for the price of the technology
is astronomic and the human experience of living this way
can be deadly, even for the MTV
generation.
Of course the technology offers some
real advantages, but e-government is another movement
that takes a reasonable idea and elevates it to the level
of universal solvent and techno-spiritual
mandate.
Cause for Restraint
What goes unannounced in the selling of technology are
things like the studies of cities that have gone
electronic for matters relating to citizen involvement
such as voter registration, discussion on issues,
feedback on service. They found that the people who
participated electronically were the same people who used
to participate in person. The amount of citizen
involvement did not change, even though the ease of
participation was increased.
We need to also remember that many of
the services in the private sector, which have been
automated, have actually deteriorated. We now have to
wait so long to talk to a customer service person that
they warn us about the waiting time.
We are constantly told that electronic
service and e-business is serving us well, but what is
more likely the case is that institutions confuse the
cost of service with the quality of service. When the
cost goes down, which is the real impact of automation,
this does not mean the service or the quality of
decisions is improved. Granted there are some
organizations that offer great service, but most of these
offered great service before the electronic
revolution.
Returning to the Governor’s
Conference on e-business, the presentation on the
electronic day was preceded by Michael Hammer promoting
re-engineering concepts. This is in the face of evidence
that re-engineering rarely fulfilled its promise, and in
at least half the cases has been considered unsuccessful.
Why would we sell to government what has been only mildly
successful in the private sector?
Dream Along With Me
The closer in this conference was the partner with
Accenture. His job was to define the benefits of
e-government and he made the most interesting declaration
of all. He said that each state could expect to save $1
billion over four years if they went electronic. He said
these savings would include the redeployment of certain
personnel. I don’t know where he planned to
redeploy these people, but this revealed the real
attraction of the technology, which is the elimination of
jobs. The term, “redeployment” takes the
sting out of the layoffs, as if there is another job
waiting for all these people, and only required a little
rearrangement.
The deal being proposed: The private
sector opens a large new market for the software, the
equipment and the consulting services required to design
the electronic switchover, and the government meets this
interest with a rationale for reducing head count and the
political advantage of looking
fashionable.
Paying Attention to Our Experience
Whether in government or the private sector, what is sold
as a tool becomes a way of life and a way of thinking. If
we are truly committed to more efficient government, we
might consider the following:
- Improve the processes. Government processes
undoubtedly need rethinking. Why not have faith that
people in government have the capacity to invent ways
to speed processes and make them more citizen friendly.
All through the 1980s the private sector used the
methods of total quality management to become customer
focused. They trusted their own people, and through
deep involvement changed the way they did business.
They improved quality without the huge investment in
technology.
- The element of government that is closest to
citizens is local government. My fear is that the
governors will embrace e-government, but they will
implement it through statewide legislation where they
set standards, make requirements, and change everything
but how state government itself operates. I would
support change in government if the decision makers,
the governors, and the legislators who usually get
involved to enable the governors’ intentions,
realized that it is their own mandates and requirements
that make much of government so cumbersome.
Let those who buy the re-engineering story
and the technology story start with their own jobs and
decide their own way of operating is a critical part of
the problem. We could re-design the governors’
jobs so that everything they needed to do appeared on
the computer monitor on their desk. They come in in the
morning and the screen says, “Hello governor,
here is your thought for the day.” Let our
executives live for a year the kind of automated
existence they are considering creating for those at
the lower levels.
- Recognize that the government exists to serve the
public interest. It does not exist to facilitate
business interests. Most of the examples about the joys
of technology in improving government are about making
it easy to do business with the government. Any process
that is truly democratic and inclusive is going to take
longer, and we should be thankful for that. Make the
process more efficient, but do not forget the intention
of government, which is to respond to needs no other
segment of society can do on its own. Doing business
with business is not the core purpose of government.
There is more to community life than economic
development for the sake of the already
wealthy.
The Point
We need to accept the fact that we are living out a
technology and efficiency story that is as much myth as
reality. Studies in the classroom have shown that the
only difference in having a computer in a classroom is
that students learn more about the computer. Reading,
writing, and adding do not improve.
Technology in medicine has made a
difference in the well being of those in the middle and
upper classes. The real problem in health care is that it
remains out of the reach of a large segment of society.
Technology in business has reduced costs by reducing
people, but mostly in manufacturing and distribution. It
has not delivered better service, more meaningful work,
or institutions that are more socially
responsible.
Government may need to change its way of
doing business, but we could help that most by improving
the political arena, which drives a lot of government
bureaucracy. The government is inefficient, in part,
because it has to defend itself against our anger and our
expectation that it is there to meet our parochial
interests. If we, as citizens, could work out among
ourselves what we expect the government to adjudicate for
us, the cost and speed of government would
improve.
Then we still might be able to begin our
day by saying hello to each other, keep technology as
simply another tool, and avoid another well of
dehumanizing disappointment.
October 2001 News for a
Change Homepage
Issue Highlight —
A Day in the Life of a Fool
