Perspectives on Productivity

Abstract

Much of the discussion over the past two days has been centered on bureaucratic controls and how to improve cost and quality. I would like to consider some of the philosophical issues that have everything to do with action, everything to do with our ability to become more effective. I would like to discuss the centrality of a forgotten group of people known as intermediary professionals: their relationship to spectacular public administration failures and disasters; why these professionals are so silent; the inadequacy of orthodox management; and where innovation may come through in the future. Imagine, if you will, a triangle-the usual bureaucratic triangle, with a policy group on the top: people translating policy and making policy at a rather small strategic apex. Bureaucracies come in all shapes, but we usually think of a triangle. Then put a band across the middle of the triangle. That is an area populated with professionals, who are the people who implement things. These people design work, supervise others, coordinate activities with outside forces, and so forth. Some of them bring direct services to clients. The rest of this triangle can be called the operating court. We depend on this middle layer of the triangle to do a lot of very important things. These are very skillful people. They are in very strategic positions, because they mediate between those who compose and those who dispose. They are trying to balance the desires of policy people and the ability of people to implement policies. About a quarter of our total civilian population in government, excluding the armed forces, excluding education and so forth, falls into this area. In terms of New York State, I would imagine about fifty thousand people are intermediary professionals. Of that fifty thousand, maybe 10 percent, or five thousand people, are policymakers, people at the apex of the triangle. Why are people attracted to these jobs? They are able people, and they have made a conscious decision to go into public service. They are attracted because of a sense of intemal responsibility that pushes them on. They are willing to make a series of sacrifices and willing to do all kinds of things for the joy of fulfilling that intemal desire to serve the public interest,