Contemplations on the Business of Government: A Conversation With Morley Winograd and Alan Glassman

Abstract

In this interview, Morley Winograd and Alan Glassman-two recognized experts on strategic planning and organization development in government agencies-explore the uniqueness of the public sector environment, highlighting both the complexity of the federal and multiple-level municipal relationships and the more common criticisms about public sector governance. Specifically, they remind us of (a) the often forgotten benefits of the nation’s deliberative democracy and the constant, yet arguably appropriate, tension between career civil servants and politicians, (b) the need to change the current problem-solving culture to spur innovation in government, and (c) the potential for strategic planning in the public sector to accelerate change and shift government’s focus from process to outcomes. Finally, they offer five pieces of hard-won advice to those attempting strategic planning in the public sector, and share optimism about the future based on the influx of the millennial generation into the public sector.