Five Steps to Government Failure

We don’t tolerate failure at the government level. How will we ever innovate if we can’t fail forward?

To succeed one must learn to fail and fail fast. This is a mantra that I am sure you have heard before. It is the culture and theme of the entrepreneurial set. Failure is the way to success. How can you understand success unless you see what “doesn’t” work, right?

It was said Thomas Edison tried thousands of different filaments to create a lightbulb that would be commercially viable before settling on tungsten, which is still used in incandescent light bulbs today. The truth is that several people had invented the electric light before him, Edison merely perfected it.

He also cornered the market. As for the invention of the usable commercially available incandescent lightbulb he was certainly the winner. Through mergers, buyouts, and patent infringement lawsuits he made sure history would record him as the inventor of the light bulb.

By the way his researchers tried 6,000 different iterations of the lightbulb before coming up with the winner. So he didn’t “fail” 1,000 times, it was actually much more.

Today, failing is cache, hip and thing to do. Or at least it is the thing to talk about. In the world of software, and even hardware and commercial products it’s ok, even encouraged to release a “minimally viable product” or MVP. Give it to the masses and let them test it out before committing even more resources. I have worked with more than one “beta” product in my career.

Where does the government fit in? As a society are we willing to let the government make these kinds of mistakes or provide a MVP? Having worked in government or on the edge of government in quasi-governmental partnerships over the past 35 years I have come to bear witness that the answer is NO. In no way is the government allowed to make mistakes or produce an MVP (although some may argue that this is all the government does every day).

Why do we hold the government to a double standard? On one hand we expect government services to be developed and delivered to us perfectly, on the other hand if you follow the entrepreneurial culture of the last twenty years, failing and falling down, innovation and particularly its ugly partner, failing, is not tolerated.

Certainly at the Federal level providing government funding to private companies and institutions to conduct research and development substitutes for some of this lack of innovation. However what I am really talking about is the lack of innovation and the lack of tolerance at the local level for the delivery of services.

Here are some steps that local governments and economic development organizations can take to promote innovation at the local level, both of which are the closest to the common resident in its impact:

1. Host a “Hack-a-thon” — this is an event that is held over a weekend and usually involves solving an existing problem by teams of Info-tech hackers and coders. However in this case the hackers are doing something positive for the community. A problem or dilemma is presented and the participants develop software or apps, some type of solution. The individual teams then pitch their solution to judges (made up of city officials and staffers) who determine the winner. The winning team implements the solution and if it is good enough investors are ready to fund the solution for sale to others.
2. Generate and organize data (sell it too) — A city or economic development organization is an enormous repository of data and information. The city collects all kinds of data including traffic counts, water consumption, sewer usage, electrical usage, license fees, incomes and other pieces of data they may not even realize. Some of the data is used internally if indeed the community recognizes its value. Of course data such as water or sewer usage is collected for the purposes of billing, but the data, correlated with other data might be useful for other purposes. Companies specialize in generating predictive analysis on human behavior might be interested in the data you as a city are producing and collecting. In addition your hackers (above) could possibly use the data in unique ways to solve a long standing problem or make predictions regarding water leaks, road repairs or crime.
3. Make citizen engagement easy — residents of the community simply want to be heard. They feel politicians and the system has drowned out their voices. This is why they sometimes sound demanding. Society and culture has told them their rights are more important than everyone else’s. Help them be heard. There are simple ways to do that, like town-hall meetings, and forums, or more sophisticated ways via software. Doing this tempers the loudest most obnoxious voices and lets residents engage. Point: You can and should learn something. Sometimes the most innovative ideas come from those outside your bubble. Plus you can’t be blamed for trying their ideas.
4. Encourage and allow experimentation in service delivery — Why does the way you deliver services to residents, clients and others always have to be how everyone elses does it. How has that been working out for you. Are there alternative ways of doing things? If nothing else, the pandemic taught us how to work and meet without being in the same room. Can we take some of these lessons and deliver services in a different way?
5. Train employees on creativity and design — Taking classes from a wide variety of sources in “Design Thinking” will help economic developers, city managers and elected officials in the creation and delivery of services and marketing techniques. Institutions like IDEO have classes and seminars.

One organization that is doing impressive work in innovation and supports local government in that regard is the Alliance for Innovation. For more ideas about pushing innovation, view their website regularly.

Innovation doesn’t have to be stifled at the local level and it doesn’t have to be minimized just because as a unit of local government you are expected to do things a certain way. As a leader you have to sometimes take the bold steps that are necessary to think differently.

Are you ready to fail? Don’t look at it in a negative way, but consider the potential results. Don’t fail on purpose but push the limits of your thinking and you will be more successful and definitely more satisfied.