The reason why we focus on efficiency is because we can. Doing what we are currently doing – only doing it better, cheaper, faster – is not only within our capabilities it is also within our responsibility levels. Effectiveness requires going beyond, looking at how what we are doing interrelates with what others are doing. Doing our thing better will fail to achieve real benefits unless we do. So while efficiency is desirable, it is not enough. Here is a case in point.
The asset management team proposed that the government build an asset register that would provide information to enable the transfer of property from departments that no longer had need for the resources to those that did. This, they argued, would enable great savings in both capital and maintenance funds. So the asset register was built. It took a number of years and cost many millions of dollars and when completed it did exactly what it was intended to do – it showed where property was underutilised and where capacity was under strain.
The expected benefits, however – the transfer of surplus property saving both capital and maintenance funds – did not arise. Why not? Because information by itself is not enough. We also need people and processes that want to and can make use of the information.
In this case no department with surplus property was willing to admit it and hand it back to the Treasury. It knew that if their demands should increase in future, getting expansionary funds would be very difficult, so there was an incentive to disguise and minimise the true extent of under-utilisation.
There was no organisational mechanism. Departments needing to expand would make the case to their Minister, usually done by proposing a specially designed facility. On approval, these departments had no incentive to settle for hand-me-down space and there was no organisational means to make it happen.
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