How the FBI Manages Performance

In order to manage business performance effectively organizations must be clear about what they want to achieve, i.e. their strategic goals and priorities. A tool that helps you translate your strategic goals into a performance management framework is a strategy map, which is a one-page map of your goals and the things you have to do to achieve them.

Interestingly, I sometimes hear leaders say “We can’t possibly put our strategy on a one-page map and share this with people – it’s far too complex and confidential.” Really? How are you going to make sure that people understand what matters the most? A great way to respond to their concerns is to ask: Tell me some of the most complex and confidential organizations on the planet? Usually, it won’t take long until someone mentions the FBI (US Federal Bureau of Investigation). That’s great, because they have managed to put their strategy on a single page and what’s more, anyone can see it: https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/strategy-management/fbi-strategy-map-1. If they can do it, anyone can!

9/11 and a Shift in Strategy

Understandably the shocking terrorist attacks of 9/11 served as catalyst for reappraising the strategic and operational priorities of the FBI. In early 2002 the FBI Director Robert Mueller signaled a shift in the FBIs focus to the prioritization of counterterrorism activities, although other areas such as “preserve civil liberties,” would remain a high level of importance (as shown in the mission perspective at the top of the FBI Strategy Map).

To implement its new strategy, the FBI (which employs about 36,000 people, - of which about 17,000 are Special or Intelligence Agents) crafted what it calls, “strategic shifts.” New strategic shifts included adding national security to the FBI’s responsibilities, replacing siloed operations with integrated teams, updating IT systems and moving from a tactical to a strategic mind-set. Note that the FBI uses a powerful tool called a Strategic Change Agenda to identify as-is and desired states for a number of strategic dimensions that support the Bureau’s vision. The most recent agenda is shown here:

Building a Strategy Management System

With the strategic shifts indentified, the next move in implementing the strategy was the creation of a Strategy Map and Balanced Scorecard (which the FBI simply calls a Strategic Management System – SMS). Work commenced in early 2006. The enterprise-level SMS (which was built by the senior team) was ready by September of that year, and introduced to the Special Agents heading field offices. As shown on the Strategy Map, key strategic themes include Operational Excellence: Deter Detect, and Disrupt National Security and Criminal Threats as well as Maximize Partnerships, both considered critical to deliver to the FBI counterterrorism agenda. In addition to supporting the strategic shifts the SMS was positioned to help the FBI address several longstanding cultural and structural challenges. For example, the field offices had historically operated independently of one another.

With an ”achievable,” goal of making “strategy everyone’s job,” the FBI next devolved the SMS to divisional and branch levels. To facilitate this, the FBI created a 10-strong Strategy Management Office, which is supported by part-time staff throughout the organization. Office responsibilities include being a central resource tool and for implementing and sharing best practice, doing analysis across the organization and identifying trends across the divisions. They are also charged with educating new hires on the SMS, providing quarterly reporting documentation, and coordinating performance to such oversight entities as the Department of Justice, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Office of Management and Budget. Note that Strategic Shifts and the objectives on the Strategy Map are revalidated annually to ensure that they align with the National Security Strategy, the Department of Justice Strategic Plan, and the Director of National Intelligence’s National Intelligence Strategy. They are also revalidated to ensure they reflect the FBI Director’s strategic imperatives and initiatives.

Measuring and Reporting Performance

Objective performance at the enterprise, branch, and division levels are measured, tracked, and reviewed on a quarterly basis and reported through quarterly strategy review meetings. During these meetings, the leadership team also reviews initiative performance and makes decisions on how to allocate resources in order to improve organizational execution.

The FBI claims it has gained many benefits from using the SMS, stating that areas such as operational efficiencies and surveillance capacity have improved significantly. Naturally, there is much that an organization such as the FBI cannot share externally for reasons of national security. But note that one strategic shift not listed above focuses on replacing old rules about information sharing (“Restrict, and share what you must”) with new ones (“Share, and restrict what you must”) – this has led to better coordination with law enforcement partners (a key strategic theme). But another example of how this has been operationalized is that the FBI’s Strategy Map and shifts are visible for all to see, at a click of a button. I would argue that if “share, and restrict what you must,” is an appropriate mantra for an organization such as the FBI then it should be adopted by all organizations (who will typically have much less to restrict) and is certainly food for thought for those that believe their Strategy Map is too confidential to share with anyone but the select few leaders.

The way the FBI manages performance is one of the many examples I discuss in my book ’Doing More with Less: Measuring, Analyzing and Improving Performance in the Government and Not-for-Profit Sector (which I co-wrote with James Creelman).

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Here are some other related posts I have written:

• Managing Performance In Government Organizations
• Measuring The Wrong Things: A Big Challenge for Government Organizations
• The Seven Secrets of Top Performers
• The Top 5 Performance Management Tools: Good News And Cautionary Tales
• Big Data: The 5 Vs Everyone Most Know
• The 25 KPIs Every Manager Needs to Know

About : Bernard Marr is a globally recognized expert in strategy, performance management, analytics, KPIs and big data. He helps companies manage, measure and improve performance. His new books are ’Doing More with Less: Measuring, Analyzing and Improving Performance in the Government and Not-for-Profit Sector and ’25 Need-to-Know Key Performance Indicators’

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