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June 15, 2023

The Five Pillars of GovOps

By Saahil Panikar

This article is an excerpt from the paper “The Future of Government Operations” that appears in the Spring 2023 DevOps Enterprise Journal. It is authored by Saahil Panikar, Lindy Quick, and Saajan Panikar.

These limitations to government agility are often considered to be inherent to the nature of government itself. However, the truth is that these limitations are mostly self-imposed and can be overcome through the proper application of Agile principles and methodologies.

The government operations and vision (GovOps) framework provides guidance and structure to overcome these limitations and achieve mission success through Agile principles and practices. With GovOps, government organizations can prioritize mission outcomes and apply Lean/Agile practices within the existing organizational structures and processes, creating a new, structured approach to mission identification and execution.

To combat the challenges outlined in our paper, we will focus on the five pillars that inform successful mission-oriented government strategy: (1) Mission/Service, (2) Contracts, (3) Vendor Management, (4) Peer Engagement, (5) Feedback.

Pillar 1: Mission/Service

The mission/service pillar is the foundation of government operations. It defines the purpose and goals of the organization and sets the standard for decision-making and value delivery. The mission/service pillar ensures that the organization is aligned with the needs and expectations of its constituents and that all decisions and activities are aligned with the organization’s strategic objectives. The mission/service pillar requires organizations to clearly articulate their mission and values and to ensure that all decisions and activities align with these objectives. This requires ongoing engagement with constituents and a commitment to continuous improvement and innovation.

To ensure that the mission/service pillar is effective, organizations should take the following actions:

  • Action 1: Identify Your Mission
  • Action 2: Optimize for Mission Execution
  • Action 3: Commit to Continuous Improvement and Constituent Engagement

(Each of these actions is outlined in more detail in our paper.)

Pillar 2: Contracts

The contracts pillar defines the legal and financial arrangements that govern the relationship between government organizations and their contractors. The contracts pillar ensures that contracts align with the organization’s mission and that the contractor provides the necessary support and resources to enable government organizations to deliver value to their constituents using Lean budgets and iterative processes. This requires ongoing engagement with contract managers and a commitment to continuous improvement and innovation.

To ensure that the contracts pillar is effective, organizations should take the following actions:

  • Action 1: Create Contract-Mission Alignment
  • Action 2: Implement Agile Contracts
  • Action 3: Continuously Improve Contract Management

(Each of these actions is outlined in more detail in our paper.)

Pillar 3: Vendor Management

The vendor management pillar defines the relationship between government organizations and their vendors. The vendor management pillar ensures that vendors are aligned with mission, and that they provide the necessary support and resources to enable government organizations to deliver on their commitments in a cohesive and coordinated manner in partnership with all the vendors involved in an initiative. This requires ongoing engagement with vendors, and a commitment to continuous improvement and innovation.

To ensure that the vendor management pillar is effective, organizations should take the following actions:

  • Action 1: Create Vendor-Mission Alignment
  • Action 2: Continuously Engage with Vendors
  • Action 3: Continuously Improve Vendor Relationships

(Each of these actions is outlined in more detail in our paper.)

Pillar 4: Peer Engagement

The peer engagement pillar defines the relationships between the government and the individuals that make up the government workforce and represents a crucial aspect of professional and personal growth. Engaging with peers can help you expand your knowledge, build your network, and develop new skills. We know from Daniel Pink’s research and from his book Drive that autonomy, mastery, and purpose are the three primary motivators of knowledge workers. Peer engagement allows us to give government employees the ability to develop mastery by learning new skills and purpose through growth and mentoring. Peer engagement refers to the process of actively involving and connecting with individuals who share common goals, challenges, or interests. By building a network of peers, you can access a wealth of knowledge, experiences, and insights that can help you grow both professionally and personally. Leverage lessons that others before you have overcome. There is no need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to success in your organization. Historically, sharing data and information has been extremely limited, even within an organization. The peer engagement pillar encourages and promotes cross-learning within and between organizations.

To ensure that the peer management pillar is effective, organizations should take the following actions:

  • Action 1: Develop Peer Connections
  • Action 2: Launch Communities of Practice
  • Action 3: Encourage Personal Development

(Each of these actions is described in more detail in our paper.)

Pillar 5: Feedback

The feedback pillar defines the relationship between the government and the various components of execution inside the government system. It helps organizations understand how well they are serving their constituents and meeting their mission. Feedback is not only customer or constituent feedback; feedback comes in many forms. Our processes and technology systems also provide us with valuable feedback that can be leveraged to improve our execution. Without feedback, it can be difficult for organizations to identify areas for improvement and make changes that will drive their mission forward. There are several benefits to regular feedback. For one, it helps organizations understand what they are doing well and where they need to improve. Additionally, feedback can help organizations identify areas where they need to invest more resources or change their approach. Finally, feedback can help build trust with government constituents, as it demonstrates that the organization is actively working to meet their needs. In GovOps, feedback is a regular and ongoing process that helps identify what is
working well and what needs to be improved.

Here are three actions that you can take to ensure that feedback is integrated into your Agile process:

  • Action 1: Foster a Culture of Feedback-Driven Decisions
  • Action 2: Seek Short-Term Wins
  • Action 3: Accelerate Feedback with Technology

(Each of these actions is described in more detail in our paper.)

The Benefits of GovOps

The GovOps framework provides government organizations, which are not motivated by profit, the ability to align strategy and execution to their overall mission at all levels. Agility in government is
needed everywhere, from Washington, DC, to city halls, county commissions, state houses in communities across the country, and even embassies, consulates, and foreign governments across the world. It is our responsibility to serve our customers and constituents as effectively as possible, and so we need to be asking the question: How do we know we are delivering the right thing?

By using the GovOps framework to align mission, strategy, and execution. The GovOps framework helps increase value delivery to customers and constituents while also improving visibility, transparency, predictability, and efficiency.

To read more, download the Spring 2023 DevOps Enterprise Journal at this link.

- About The Authors
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Saahil Panikar

CIO, Triple Dot Engineering; Partner, Project & Team; Managing Director, Atlas Revolutions

Follow Saahil on Social Media

1 Comment

  • Anonymous Jun 17, 2023 4:08 am

    I love this. Thank you Saahil Panikar. I very much wonder who is driving the economy and therefore politics at the moment. Is the dog wagging the tail or is the tail wagging the dog? I find so much hope in your abstract

    Reply

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