Much has been written about the bold proclamations and promises that President-Elect Donald Trump has made since winning the US Election in November. While Robin William’s comment about Canada is kind of amusing, there is little doubt there will be profound implications to our local economy and our standard of living based on what actually gets implemented and executed in the next four years.
We all know that Implemented and executed are often a far cry from what gets said in social media and at press conferences. However, that delta – between SAY and DO - is grist for another blog or the history books.
Of all his announcements the topic that most intrigues me is the Department of Government Efficiency task force that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have been asked to lead. This open letter in the Wall Street Journal lays out the broad rationale and approach the two of them plan to enact if given the go-ahead in 2025.
Government inefficiency is an easy target for business-minded people like Trump, Musk and Ramaswamy. Tales of $1,000 hammers procured by the Pentagon and the oceans of red tape and regulation that enable glaciers to move with more alacrity than government offices are not urban myths but well-documented facts. The subsequent drag coefficient on business owners, entrepreneurs, innovators and GDP is non-debatable too. With GDP growth and labour force productivity falling across the OECD this bogie is not just a challenge for the United States. Here in Canada our public sector has grown by 40% while the population it serves has only grown by 15%. In the UK the public sector has long been the largest employer across all sectors.
Add to those realities, an aging population, declining birth rates and – in Canada and the UK – vital institutions like healthcare, pensions and education that are dangerously underfunded and agonizingly close to bankruptcy, any organization - public or private - that visibly creates a drag on economic growth needs to be addressed immediately. If not sooner.
In the simplest terms, success will mean a profound change in the culture of how these institutions operate. Critically the private sector shouldn’t get a hall pass on these (overdue) changes either. Bureaucratic cultures aren’t purely the subject matter expertise of governments, they are as much part of our private sector as our public one. Use this brilliant little tool - The Bureaucratic Mass Index - inside your own business and tell me how you rate.
FTR when I say culture I mean more than “how things get done around here” and infinitely more than narrow box of exercises undertaken to attract, retain and engage employees. Culture is how we unlock the collective creativity, commitment, passion, intellect and humanity of the people that choose to walk into our buildings (real and virtual) every day. How they think, behave and make decisions a thousand times a day. In this age of AI, your organizational culture is the only sustainable competitive advantage you have so ignore it at your peril.
Here's the rub….
Efficiency is an OUTCOME of the myriad daily decisions made by your culture. Decisions that impact the three most vital aspects of any modern organization. How connected, cohesive and collaborative you are. And that is the same if you’re a private sector organization or a branch of government.
While Elon might trumpet the “playbook” he executed when he took over Twitter (now X) – laying off 80% of the workforce and building back from there - here’s some considerations for those of you sitting down with a large bowl of popcorn to watch how this particular endeavour unfolds.
One, connection.
This is a no-brainer. We talk about siloes and fragmented organizations on the daily. The classic idiom that the “left hand doesn’t know there’s a right hand.”
So…mass layoffs aren’t magically going to create new connections and a more connected organization. In fact, done without any forethought, they actually may sever the only connections that currently exist between functions, teams and geographies.
A more astute approach is to map where you’re currently connected (or fragmented) and identify who are the critical people that connect your organization. There are excellent organizations doing this work today and much like going to your GP annually, there’s much to be gained from the insights this exercise uncovers.
Two, cohesion.
This is another culture outcome we must focus more on. What unifies us as an organization and what do we commit our collective energies to solving? While the term “Purpose” may have lost some of its currency in corporate circles, being unambiguous about what your organization does (or doesn’t do), who it serves, why it exists and why its efforts are necessary is table stakes. THEN that unifying point must be universally understood across your firm from the newest recruits and new acquisitions to the old guard who may just be holding on to how things have always been done around here. FINALLY, that cohesion must be implemented across your systems and processes too. Don’t align the energies and enthusiasm of your humans around responsiveness to then require them to complete 14 forms and attend 25 meetings to get any decisions made and actions taken.
Cohesion happens when your systems are accelerants, not anchors, allowing your best people to do their best work.
Three, collaboration.
Let’s start with getting aligned on whether we mean collaboration or do we really mean co-operation? Personally, I’m a fan of the former because that allows room for (healthy, respectful) debate and disagreement where the latter is often an exercise in seeking consensus. Consensus being the place where great ideas go to wither and die under the weight of “de-risking” and “averaging” something out.
Collaboration also requires the oxygen of psychological safety and leadership more concerned with outcomes than control. All of this is not easy – and likely not part of a calcified culture uncomfortable with change – but collaboration must be recognized for what it is - a force multiplier. If growth truly is the goal, anything that multiplies or compounds your trajectory must be prioritized.
Four, nomenclature.
My concern with the term “efficiency” is that it’s typically corporate code for mass layoffs. Granted I may just be jaded by decades of corporate PR releases. Efficiency (aka layoffs) often just make employment lawyers and trade unions gleefully rub their hands together.
It may be a semantic hair-split but if we used the term EFFECTIVENESS instead, I think we’re getting closer to the real opportunity we seek. More effective organizations. Effective in using both their human and financial capital. Effective in unlocking new models and new innovations. Effective in driving net-new growth. The Department of Government Effectiveness sounds, at least to my ear, like a place with growth velocity and momentum. The Department of Government Efficiency sounds like a clinical Swiss experiment.
Again, I’ll be watching this task force with tremendous interest. Not just because of my fascination for culture and how that helps organizations win in the market, but because the learnings will be studied and, if successful, likely replicated by many other countries. Including Canada, the country I am proud to call home.
Ultimately, we cannot seek to improve the productivity and prosperity of our countrymen and women whilst clinging on to traditional business structures that we know stifle innovation and thwart entrepreneurship.
That goes equally for the public sector and the private sector.
So, in the spirit of democracy, I’m casting my vote for effectiveness.
How will you (and your organization) vote?
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Before you ask, YES I did enjoy writing that headline and riffing off the various pop culture references that particular idiom evokes globally.
Here are a several excellent references I’d strongly encourage you read and authors you should follow.
Humanocracy – just a brilliant book brimful of great examples and great writing by Michele Zanini and Gary Hamel. If you want a blueprint for unlocking human potential, grab this book.
Team of Teams – a fascinating read by General Stanley McChrystal which highlights the power of nimble, empowered and focused teams versus lumbering bureaucracies. The fact that it is about an enormous government entity – The United States military – makes it even more relevant and insightful.
Innovisor – a Danish organization that I’m proud to know and work with. If you want to genuinely understand the connection or fragmentation inside your organization, they should be your first call.
LAST SHOUT OUT...
In researching this post I fell down an inevitable rabbit hole. This Economic abstract on Human Development Index versus GDP as a measure of economic progress made for a fascinating read. In (super) simple terms HDI attempts to measure government investment in long-tail socioeconomic areas like education and healthcare. By that measure, the relative success of the G7 countries looks quite different. I lack the Economics PhD to validate the accuracy and efficacy of this data and research...BUT I do find the premise very intriguing.
May you live in interesting times indeed.