Shalala's Management Principles

THE DAILY FED

Shalala's Management Principles

The following is excerpted from a speech given by Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala at the 20th anniversary reception of the Presidential Management Interns program on Monday, September 8. The PMI program was established in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter to serve as a training ground for future federal executives.

Let me start by knocking down two myths.

The first is that jobs like mine are impossible. Too many difficult clients. Too many internal conflicts. Too little public confidence. It's not true. Managing a large organization is the art of the possible. And, as I'll describe shortly, with some common sense lessons, it can be done.

The second myth goes back to the theories of Frederick Taylor.

That organizations are essentially machines. Pull the right levers in the right way, and you'll get the right result. Were it only that easy.

In complex organizations there will be failures for any number of reasons: poor communication, impractical or unclear goals; lack of public or congressional support; lack of sufficient expertise or resources; too much--or too little--oversight. And too much work.

Between these two extremes: That nothing works or that everything can be made to work, lies some basic truths about large modern organizations.

Some of these lessons are well-established norms for administering a large public organization. And some are lessons from two decades of experience as a sub-cabinet official, as a student of government and politics, and as a leader of large public universities.

Number One: Know the Cultures of Your Organization.

I said cultures, not culture.

Organizations are usually made up of many smaller units--each with its own history, needs, culture and constituencies--but working toward a larger objective.

It is important to understand these cultures.

Number Two: Make Sure the Right Hand Knows What the Left Hand is Doing.

There's a scene in the movie Ben Hur, where Ben Hur is trying, without success, to get his four new chariot horses to run. The Bedouin who owns the horses tells him that each horse has its own personality, and they must be harnessed together in a way that allows them to run as a team. The same holds true for any large organization. The sum has to be greater than the parts.

Administrators can do a lot to promote teamwork and a corporate identity.

When I first became Secretary, I encouraged my top appointees to distinguish the HHS forest from their particular tree by asking each of them to participate in each other's budget hearings--and to prepare a budget for the entire department. That's because in almost any public organization, the primary system for melding a team and an agenda is the budget process.

But there are others.

On to Number Three: Don't Overlook the Needs and Abilities of the Career Public Service.

My first day of work started with many top jobs in the department unfilled. And it stayed that way for some time. So what did we do? We ran the department with the top civil servants. It was fun.

From the beginning, I wanted to send a very strong message to the civil service--that they were important. That we were going to be a team. My first appointment was from the Senior Executive Service--a career person of both great competence and experience.

Relying on career professionals--many of whom start as Presidential Management Interns--is especially important in the age of downsizing. Today, political staffs are doing more work, with less help, and in less time. This is an open invitation for policy mistakes and failure--which can be avoided by using the career civil service to identify mine fields from the past and to plan policies for the future.

Which brings me to Number Four: Choose the Best and Let Them do Their Jobs.

A large organization is complex; its programs difficult to manage; and their purpose almost always vital to the well being of the American people. that's why I believe that the most important thing any public administrator can do is choose the right top management. Working with the President's personnel team, we consciously chose people of different ages, from vastly different backgrounds and parts of the country.

Each of these leaders had years of academic and/or professional experience, not to mention a deep sense of mission. But we also worried about he next generation. I always try to remember that we are replaced by those we recruit.

Which brings me to Number Five: Stitch Together a Loyal Team.

We worked hard to make everyone feel a part of a team. But our core team showed up with different agendas, different approaches to achieving their agendas and often without knowing much about their new colleagues.

For the most part we put together a loyal and cooperative team of very nice people who liked each other. And I encouraged that by creating events for my top staff where they could get to know each other better.

Which brings me to Number Six: Stand up and Fight for the People Who Work for You.

People behave in large organizations pretty much the way they behave outside of work. They are motivated by friendship, support and loyalty. That's why showing the people who work for you that you really care about them pays dividends.

Number Seven: Set Firm Goals and Priorities--and Stick With Them.

The old saying is still true: To govern is to choose.

But in a large organization, with a limitless number of decisions to make--and a very limited time to make them--how do you choose? If you try to do everything, you'll accomplish nothing. You need to set priorities.

Which brings me to Number Eight: Don't Forget Politics is Always Part of Policy making.

There is no way to succeed in the world of government without paying attention to that other world: politics.

For HHS, that means primarily the White House and Congress.

I have two rules of thumb in politics. One, be fiercely loyal to the President on policy and appointments. Two, be skillfully bi-partisan in the administration of the department.

When I go to Capitol Hill to testify before Congress, I present the administration's case as vigorously as I can. But when I return to the department, it doesn't matter to me if a Medicaid waiver request, or any other request, comes from a Republican governor or a Democrat governor. They get the same professional consideration.

Which brings me to Number Nine: Look for Allies Where You Don't Expect to Find Them.

To manage a large organization in this age of instantaneous communication, it always helps to reach out to non-traditional allies. That's why we work hard to make friends out of adversaries, to cooperate with the leadership of both parties, to disagree without rancor and to build on areas of agreement.

Number Ten: Be Flexible. Be Realistic. And Don't Expect to Win Every Time.

Perhaps the biggest mistake the manager of a large organization can make is to stand in one place for too long. Change comes. That doesn't mean there shouldn't be a strategic plan and systems for carrying out the operations of a large organization. But it does mean expect the unexpected. And be nimble enough to change course.

In other words, keep moving.

In 1994, we lost on universal health care--in part because the other side organized quickly and framed the debate. By 1996 we were flexible enough to find a slower more incremental--and successful--approach. Last year we passed Kassebaum-Kennedy. This year we passed a budget that will provide up to 5 million uninsured children with coverage.

It was a great victory.

With unexpected change comes unexpected opportunity.

The opportunity to be creative. To find more efficient and less costly ways to deliver services. To find new partners and break new ground. To be--in the words of Mark Moore--"an explorer commissioned by society to search for public value."

My dream is that young Presidential Management Interns who are today just starting their careers in government will have opportunities to be "explorers."

Thank you for making the PMI program such a success--and for being the next generation of great American leaders.