Utah Society of Certified Public Managers®

By Suzette Green-Wright, CPM
sgreenwright@utah.gov

The Ninth Annual Manager’s Conference was held on May 22, 2007, at the Davis Conference Center in Layton, Utah. There were 350 attendees, 58 who are members of the Utah Society of Certified Public Managers® (USCPM). This year’s conference was jointly provided by the USCPM, the Department of Human Resource Management and the Utah Policy Partnership.

Our morning speaker was Ken Miller, author of the book We Don’t Make Widgets:  Overcoming the Myths That Keep Governments from Radically Improving. Mr. Miller came from Missouri government and was Deputy Director of the Missouri Department of Revenue. Mr. Miller spoke on the three myths that tend to prevent government from making changes.

The first myth is, “we don’t make widgets.” That means that most of government thinks themselves as a service entity only. Mr. Miller challenged that thought process with several agencies. He used Medicaid as an example. They provide the ‘widget’ of insurance coverage for the low-income population. Unemployment provides the ‘widget’ of welfare checks and food stamps.

Myth two is, “we don’t have customers.” As state agencies we have clients, consumers, licensees, etc. We tend not to think of them as customers because we relate that to someone buying something.

Myth three is, “we’re not here to make a profit.” We need to think as profit as being a desirable outcome not necessarily related to a dollar amount.

The attendees participated in several exercises that included fixing a plant that builds Ford Mustangs. We all came up with things to qualify as a percentage or a number in three minutes. When you are dealing in the ‘profit mode’ it seems easier to find solutions. Mr. Miller was trying to get the audience to think outside of their comfort zone in relation to each position that they held.

He reminded the audience there are two types of customers:  the end-user and the broker. The rule tends to be that whoever has the most dollars has the most power in designing a system. Change is possible if we change our mindset on what our widget is and make it usable for the best results.

The second speaker for the conference was Scott Wood of the Institute for the Individual Training. His presentation was on “Social Signposts:  Key to Success.” His discussion was on the ‘waves’ of culture on the earth. This begins with the Agriculture Wave 1. This was where everything revolved around rural farm life, small social circles, work until done, everyone knows everything, face to face communication with some written, and family committee based decisions.

Then we moved to Wave 2, the Industrial Wave. Now we had migration to cities, some automation, working for others, specialization, unions, distinction between white collar and blue collar workers, scheduled work and scheduled play, wire and telephone communication, mass production, and executive decision making.

Around 1970, Wave 3 came, the Electronic/Informational wave. With this came the personal computers, email and cell phone communications, teamwork concepts, heavy focus on education, extreme travel, globalization, instant gratification, and decisions by management and teams.

With the advent of Wave 4, the Individual Wave, we have a whole new focus. There is competency expectancy, tight organizations, instant decisions, high intensity, extreme technology, ‘world wide web’ with everything at your fingertips, and individual or team based decisions.

Some of us may have been raised under Wave 2 and have to learn to except answers from Wave 4 communicators. With Wave 4, communication has gone to bullet points not paragraphs. We have to learn to skim, and scan and summarize versus the term paper method. You no longer use ALL CAPS unless you are shouting or want to be rude. And underlining just can’t be used because the Wave 4’s think it is a hyperlink. Now I know why my sons look at me cross-eyed sometimes.

No more than five principles should be in any one document. Paragraph styles have changed. Make them short and sweet and to the point. My 10th grade English teacher is probably turning over in her grave.

Executive management level attendees participated in a closed session with Mr. Miller to further develop his presentation to the larger group.

Overall, the conference was a resounding success.

© Copyright 2007, American Association of Certified Public Managers®