If we can put a Man on the Moon

Tonight I had the pleasure of attending a session with Bill Eggers, global director for Deloitte Research and director of the Deloitte Public Leadership Institute. Bill is responsible for research and thought leadership for Deloitte’s public sector industry practice.

You may have read some of his previous books (if you haven't read them!) , namely Governing by Network; Government 2.0; and The Public Innovator’s Playbook.

Well...he has a new book out called "If we can put a Man on the Moon: Getting big things done in Government".

Tonight in front of a roomful of invited guests Bill talked about his book and about how governments, in Canada as well as the USA, can make things work in this ever increasingly complex world.

People are frustrated with their government — dismayed by a series of high-profile failures (in the US: Iraq, Katrina, the financial meltdown). Yet both Canada and the USA have a proud history of great achievements: the Canadian healthcare system, the highway system, welfare reform, and the moon landing.

In this book If We Can Put a Man on the Moon, Bill Eggers and John O'Leary explain how to do it. The key? Understand — and avoid — the common pitfalls that trip up public-sector leaders during the journey from idea to results.

Bill talked about the Seven Deadly Traps that could result in the failure of an initiative. These are:

The Tolstoy Trap: Seeing only the possibilities you want to see;

Design-Free Design: Designing policies for passage through the legislature, not for implementation;

The Stargate Trap: Idea never makes it though the legislature or is so distorted that it will never achieve its intended results;

The Overconfidence Trap: Creating unrealistic budgets and timelines;

The Sisyphus Trap: Failing to understand the special challenges of the public sector;

The Complacency Trap: Failing to recognize that a program needs change;

The Silo Trap: Fumbling handoffs throughout the execution of the project.

Bill showed us an interactive map that illustrates the traps and shows a journey to success. I would encourage you to take a look at this website.

It was a fascinating talk and I would encourage you to buy Bill's latest book.