[The following article appears in the September 1994 edition of _Public_Sector_Quality_Report_, pages 4 and 5.] NPR ANNIVERSARY IMPRESSIVE THUS FAR, BUT WHAT COMES NEXT? It was slightly more than 12 months ago that President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore stood on the White House lawn and unveiled the National Performance Review (NPR), a report containing 384 recommendations and 1,214 specific action steps for making the U.S. federal] government work better and cost less. Now, one year later, critics, supporters, and interested observers are busily assessing the NPR's progress (or, some might say, damage). To hear the various opinions and analyses, the current assessment of the NPR is something akin to a group of blindfolded people describing an elephant: Depending on where one happens to be standing, and which particular sense one happens to be using, the impressions can vary widely. For example, the hundreds of federal employees who are participating in 135 "reinvention labs," working on innovative process and service improvements, no doubt have their own distinct view of the NPR's worth and accomplishments to date. Conversely, the 71,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees eliminated in the first wave of an NPR push to downsize the federal workforce by more than 250,000 positions probably have a different view of this massive organizational change effort. Given that the "elephant" is certain "look" quite different, depending on whether you're situated at the trunk or the tail, here's a quick cross-section of reaction and analysis related to NPR's one-year anniversary: -- By The Numbers Going strictly by the numbers, NPR implementation has been a qualified success. According to a General Accounting Office analysis, while only 11 NPR recommendations have been "fully implemented," another 95 have been "partially implemented," and 288 have seen some sort of implementation steps taken (including cases in which enacting legislation was introduced, but not yet passed into law). Rounding out the 384 recommendations, GAO notes that 33 recommendations have not been implemented, 14 are difficult to assess for lack of information, and three have been acted on, but not exactly as detailed by the NPR. -- The NPR Perspective NPR officials express general agreement with the GAO numbers, stating that roughly 90 percent of the recommendations are in some stage of implementation/ action. In a one-year anniversary report, Creating a Government That Works Better and Costs Less: Status Report 1994, they also add these observations to suggest that behind the raw numbers of NPR's implementation, major changes have occurred: -- Of the $108 billion in savings over five years that the NPR set as a goal, $46.9 billion has been enacted into law -- More than 100 agencies have published customer service standards. -- Significant progress has been made in reforming procurement, with the government relying less on custom-designed products and more on off-the-shelf items. -- Elimination of the 71,000 FTEs. -- Conversion of purchasing processes away from paper and toward credit cards, saving an estimated $50 per transaction on small purchases (an estimated $50 million savings in 1994 alone). -- What Now? In a thoughtful analysis issued recently by the Brookings Institute (Reinventing Government: Appraising the National Performance Review, 76 pages, $5.95, plus $3 shipping and handling) author Donald Kettl was both generous in his praise for the NPR's initial efforts, and guarded in his outlook for NPR's future prospects. Kettl, a professor of public affairs and political science at the University of Wisconsin's LaFollette Institute of Public Affairs, lauds the NPR for producing "more than almost anyone, including perhaps the reinventors themselves, believed possible." Among what he calls the "impressive results" are the reinvention labs, making "a genuine start" on changing the culture of government, and simplification of rules and procedures (including elimination of the 10,000-page Federal Personnel Manual). By the same token, Kettl argues that NPR's early gains should be tempered with the realization that the effort is not, as presently constituted, "self-sustaining. " In focusing too heavily on cost savings (to be achieved chiefly through the elimination of 250,000-plus federal workers), Kettl argues that the NPR's leaders "opted for short-term tactical decisions to get quick wins. The quick wins, though, have come at the cost of building the foundation for lasting success." Among the fundamental flaws Kettl sees in the NPR are: -- The internal "tension" created by an emphasis on savings at the expense of improvement, which has alienated many of the employees NPR was seeking to empower toward greater heights in customer service, creativity, and innovation. -- Lack of a specific strategy for garnering Congress' support. Although the Clinton administration points to 21 NPR-related laws passed by Congress (including federal employee buyout legislation), Kettl cites instances (such as the House of Representatives voting to exclude the Veterans Health Administration bureaucracy from workforce reductions, and the Senate similarly shielding the federal criminal justice system) where Congress and the NPR remain at cross-purposes, and the status quo results. For NPR to succeed long-term, Kettl says, a "different kind of bargain" must be struck between the executive and legislative branches of U.S. government. -- Failure to identify the sorts of "capacity" and "glue" that will be needed to assemble a reinvented federal government once old structures, systems, regulations, and red tape are bulldozed out of existence. "Government programs do not manage themselves," notes Kettl. He questions, for example, whether in the rush to eliminate bureaucratic obstacles anyone has good grasp on where wasteful "red tape" leaves off and "procedural due process" begins. Likewise, Kettl asks, "If empowered bureaucrats behave entrepreneurially, what 'glue' will prevent government from disintegrating into a vast network of quasi-independent operators." For that matter, he wonders, what processes will there be to ensure that government entrepreneurs are accountable to elected officials? While Kettl insists that none of the problems he identifies are necessarily fatal to the long-term viability of the NPR, he says they will require lots of work and creativity in order to be resolved. Essentially, Kettl makes the argument that NPR's greatest strength, thus far, might also be its most telling weakness. "The NPR's strategy of launching a revolution without prescribing its form was a brilliant masterpiece. It's allowed a breakout from the dominant ideas: that the size of the federal government could not be reduced; and that federal bureaucrats were stuck in existing behaviors and could not be moved... The single biggest problem with the NPR was that, while it had a strategy leading up to the release of the report on Sept. 7, 1993, it had no strategy for Sept. 8 and afterward." -- Gore Keeps On Going. and Going While some critics have argued that President Clinton is providing too little executive leadership on behalf of the NPR, the same charge probably cannot be made against Gore. By all accounts Gore retains his enthusiasm and attentiveness regarding the NPR-related challenges yet to be tackled. In recent months he's handed out no fewer than 30 "hammer awards" to recognize innovative federal employees. He's expected to participate in the upcoming NPR electronic townhall. According to one NPR staffer, Gore was eagerly updating Clinton on the NPR's use of technology as the two walked across the White House lawn to present the one-year NPR anniversary report to the media. Gore reportedly explained to the president that the one-year status report carried the distinction of being the first federal report distributed via the electronic "hyper text" network known as the World Wide Web (WWW). Gore went on to note that the NPR's "home page" on the WWW had received 1,000 "hits" since the report was posted there. He also wryly offered Clinton a "hard copy" of the report-on CD-ROM disk. Gore's zeal and technobabble, we're told, drew some rather quizzical looks from the president. At least from a distance, Gore and the NPR staff also seem to have kept their equanimity, accepting criticism willingly while repeatedly emphasizing that the NPR is a long-term change effort. In a recent interview with Washington Post reporter Stephen Barr, Gore had this to say: "We don't want to be judged by any single snapshot that reflects a stationary moment in time. This is a process that requires more time than we have thus far had. One thing that we have convinced people of, we are serious about this. And anyone who has any doubt that we're going forward full blast is making a serious miscalculation." CONTACT: Donald Kettl, University of Wisconsin-Madison, (608) 263-7657. Brookings Institute, (202) 797-6000. For a copy of the NPR's one-year status report: Printed copy. call: Government Printing Office superintendent of Documents (202) 783-3238 Ask for Stock #040 000 00646-0 Price: $9.50 Electronic copy, e-mail: Address: almanac@ace.esusda.gov Message: send npr-progress.catalog CD-ROM copy, contact: National Technical Information Service (703) 487 1650 (first class mail) 800 553-NTIS (overnight courier) (703) 321-8547 (fax) Order #: PB-94-209830 Price: $16.95, plus $3 shipping and handling World Wide Web access: URL:http://www/npr.gov/ Go To Tools Select NPR Report Select 1994 Status Report [For further information about PSQR or to subscribe, contact: Public Sector Quality Report 17733 Kingsway Path Lakeville, MN 55044-5209 Phone: (612) 898-5058 Fax: (612) 892-7710 e-mail: 74363.3644@compuserve.com]