Do You Talk About It or Deliver Results?: Why Decoupling Strategy from Operations Kills Performance

When attempting to redesign our backyard a couple of years ago, I experienced first-hand the difference between having a strategy as compared to a full solution. Our home sits on an odd lot and our backyard is designed in such a way that much of our space is unusable. With two boys and a dog, we wanted a place where our kids could hang out and have fun. To help us figure out how to best maximize our space, we hired a landscape architect. He had years of experience and a credible resume. After multiple visits and iterations, he presented us with his design plan or “blueprint” for our back yard. It was beautiful.  

We took his design to a number of contractors to obtain bids. To our surprise and horror, all of the bids were outside of our budget—I mean really outside of our budget! In discussing their bids, the feedback was consistent: while the blueprint was beautiful, it wasn’t practical or easily achievable. First, the landscape architect did not take into account where underground pipes or utility lines run. The plan would force significant and additional work for the general contractor. Second, those who would have to actually implement the plan said that while the placement of certain features looked great on paper, they would have to build reinforcing structures to make things work. The landscape architect had a wonderful vision for our yard, but he clearly lacked on-the-ground experieince of what it would take to bring his blueprint to reality. Because our budget was limited, we had to discard the blueprint and start from scratch. In doing so, we lost a year in the process—having to wait for the following spring to take up the cause again. 

This experience highlights a common problem: the disconnect between strategy and operations. The architect described a vision/strategy but lacked the expertise of the general contractor to understand implementation. When these factors don’t align, plans fail.

I see the same phenomenon in government. We have a lot of good architects—people who produce strategy or policy. However, no matter how good an architect is, he or she can't build a single thing by using pictures and words alone.

We need people who can actually build.  Public policy and subject matter expertise are absolutely necessary, but we often have an abundance of architects and a shortage of general contractors in government. 

There is an abundance of public policy think tanks, masters degrees in public policy, certifications in evaluating policy, legislators who establish policy, public policy advocates, and technical support focused on policy. Shelves upon shelves could be filled with the laws, regulations, strategic plans,  program evaluations, and policies that govern programs--while user manuals on how to actually manage the flow of work within a system or to maximize the expertise of employees often don't even exist. All of this is reinforced by the reality that government employees are often promoted based on their subject matter expertise--not necessarily because they understand operations and flow. 

Don't get me wrong, we absolutely need subject matter experts and good policy. But government is starving for well-trained, experts in operations.  General contractors can detect most of the invisible processes and activities that obstruct our work—essentially uncovering the utility lines that may impede our performance. 

Contractors know how to improve the flow of work, hard-wire quality into the work flow, speed up work, reduce errors, enhance quality, address and understand backlogs, and eliminate the bottlenecks that gum up processes and waste precious resources. They can deliberately design systems that help employees become successful, rather than relying almost exclusively on their individual expertise. They can eliminate unneeded activities, identify root causes, and increase the time professionals have to do the work they are trained to do—like educate children or ensure the safety of vulnerable populations. Operational experts can create meaningful measures that tell leadership when there is a problem, why it exists, and how to improve it. People who really get operations can transform organizations and turn a public policy vision into reality.

Ultimately, operations is where all of the action happens and where people receive services. If we don't get it right there, nothing else matters. 

Good leaders recognize that policy or strategy is simply the direction of the solution but not the full solution. They are simply words on a paper but with no real power or resources behind them.  The full solution only occurs when it is crystal clear to the front-line employees how their specific work will change to meet the objectives. Not until those actually delivering the service or product have time to do their job, to do it well, and know what to do differently will any strategic plan or policy objective have the horse power to move the needle.

With well-constructed public policy and the proper focus on operations, government can be efficient and effective. When one or both of these elements are missed, government fails its citizens.