Gov 2.0 Makes Good Business Sense in Montana
Montana is a State that's not only in the black, they've got money in the bank.
And lots of it.
The Governor's office recently reported a bank account of $400 million.
But this surplus is not being used for more spending.
Instead, the Governor is asking the people of Montana how to save more.
At a time when our nation continues its attempt to rebound from an economic recession, get a grip on an ever-expanding federal deficit, and debate the effectiveness of stimulus spending, this is a story worth listening to.
After watching a television interview with Governor Brian Schweitzer, it became clear to me that the secret behind this success is not really a secret at all.
These are textbook lessons found in business and graduate schools across the country.
There's nothing complex about Montana's success, other than the fact that they're running their government much like a business, where: - Offering the best products or services is always a priority - Cost savings and wise business decisions are an equally-important priority - Complacency is never tolerated, and is instead replaced with new ideas to do it better, faster, smarter...
usually yielding more cost savings But what makes this story even more unique is that it is a picture-perfect model of government and citizens working together to accomplish these goals...
and it's working.
Governor Schweitzer sums up the mission during an interview with anchor Neil Cavuto: "Well, we believe that the citizens of Montana are my bosses.
And the customer is always right.
They're the customer.
You know, the business of state government, it is not like the federal government, where they debate how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.
State governments, all states, all 50, we have the same business.
We educate.
We medicate.
We incarcerate.
That's 85 percent of our budget.
Well, we have got to keep bad people behind bars and good teachers in front of eager students.
How do you pay for that? We're not delivering sort of less government.
We're challenging every expense in government.
We want to keep those same teachers, or maybe better teachers.
We want to make sure we choose which bad people have to stay in jail and which ones are the right ones to get out.
But, in the meantime, let's use technology.
Let's find out how we can decrease the cost of what we do by 5 percent, 8 percent, maybe even 10 percent.
" When the State started running out of ideas, they turned to crowdsourcing through the Internet and asked the people of Montana for help.
Over 1,000 ideas were submitted online.
Those ideas were evaluated and then narrowed down to four - and the people are now deciding which option(s) the State will implement.
Cost-saving ideas being considered include: Cell phones - many state employees have state-paid Blackberrys, but not everyone needs this functionality.
For those who have minimal need for a cell phone, the idea is to replace this high-end phone with a standard cell phone - and save the State over $1 million.
Data storage - Data is stored in multiple locations throughout the State, with each location requiring overhead and significant energy costs to keep the facilities cool and protect the data.
The idea is to move data storage into a central location - like the state-of-the-art data centers that already exist with excess capacity - and eliminate the costs and inefficiencies of diverse locations.
As Montana reaches out to its constituents to encourage new thinking and new ideas, we consider what we can learn from this example.
Perhaps the greatest lesson is a successful State model where the government and the people it serves work collaboratively to solve problems, gain efficiencies, reduce spending - all the while strengthening the State's overall economy and effectiveness.
Sounds a lot like democracy at its best.
A closing note to government agencies: If you are a government agency seeking help with constituent outreach, you've come to the right place! For the past decade, we've been serving the needs of government and understand what it takes to make 'social' a successful part of your outreach strategy.
Whether you need traditional public comment, enterprise-class social media for crowdsourcing or online community building, or mobile solutions, we've got all of your Gov 2.
0 needs covered.
Contact us to learn more.
And lots of it.
The Governor's office recently reported a bank account of $400 million.
But this surplus is not being used for more spending.
Instead, the Governor is asking the people of Montana how to save more.
At a time when our nation continues its attempt to rebound from an economic recession, get a grip on an ever-expanding federal deficit, and debate the effectiveness of stimulus spending, this is a story worth listening to.
After watching a television interview with Governor Brian Schweitzer, it became clear to me that the secret behind this success is not really a secret at all.
These are textbook lessons found in business and graduate schools across the country.
There's nothing complex about Montana's success, other than the fact that they're running their government much like a business, where: - Offering the best products or services is always a priority - Cost savings and wise business decisions are an equally-important priority - Complacency is never tolerated, and is instead replaced with new ideas to do it better, faster, smarter...
usually yielding more cost savings But what makes this story even more unique is that it is a picture-perfect model of government and citizens working together to accomplish these goals...
and it's working.
Governor Schweitzer sums up the mission during an interview with anchor Neil Cavuto: "Well, we believe that the citizens of Montana are my bosses.
And the customer is always right.
They're the customer.
You know, the business of state government, it is not like the federal government, where they debate how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.
State governments, all states, all 50, we have the same business.
We educate.
We medicate.
We incarcerate.
That's 85 percent of our budget.
Well, we have got to keep bad people behind bars and good teachers in front of eager students.
How do you pay for that? We're not delivering sort of less government.
We're challenging every expense in government.
We want to keep those same teachers, or maybe better teachers.
We want to make sure we choose which bad people have to stay in jail and which ones are the right ones to get out.
But, in the meantime, let's use technology.
Let's find out how we can decrease the cost of what we do by 5 percent, 8 percent, maybe even 10 percent.
" When the State started running out of ideas, they turned to crowdsourcing through the Internet and asked the people of Montana for help.
Over 1,000 ideas were submitted online.
Those ideas were evaluated and then narrowed down to four - and the people are now deciding which option(s) the State will implement.
Cost-saving ideas being considered include: Cell phones - many state employees have state-paid Blackberrys, but not everyone needs this functionality.
For those who have minimal need for a cell phone, the idea is to replace this high-end phone with a standard cell phone - and save the State over $1 million.
Data storage - Data is stored in multiple locations throughout the State, with each location requiring overhead and significant energy costs to keep the facilities cool and protect the data.
The idea is to move data storage into a central location - like the state-of-the-art data centers that already exist with excess capacity - and eliminate the costs and inefficiencies of diverse locations.
As Montana reaches out to its constituents to encourage new thinking and new ideas, we consider what we can learn from this example.
Perhaps the greatest lesson is a successful State model where the government and the people it serves work collaboratively to solve problems, gain efficiencies, reduce spending - all the while strengthening the State's overall economy and effectiveness.
Sounds a lot like democracy at its best.
A closing note to government agencies: If you are a government agency seeking help with constituent outreach, you've come to the right place! For the past decade, we've been serving the needs of government and understand what it takes to make 'social' a successful part of your outreach strategy.
Whether you need traditional public comment, enterprise-class social media for crowdsourcing or online community building, or mobile solutions, we've got all of your Gov 2.
0 needs covered.
Contact us to learn more.