How is Drive to Excellence different from other government reform efforts?
The Drive to Excellence is about reforming the basics of government, from the ground up. Previous efforts have attempted to reform government from the top down and have generally run out of steam once the low-hanging fruit was picked or when the governorship changed. The Drive to Excellence Sub-Cabinet provides leadership and guidance, but the state employees working on its many projects — nearly 1,200 since its start — are the true reformers. They’re working every day to serve citizens and they know what needs to be done to do that more effectively and more efficiently. Employees suggested more than 100 potential reforms. These were distilled into a list of 24 “business cases” in eight areas, from state purchasing to grants management to enterprise planning and budgeting. Drive to Excellence is different in one other way: It seeks to instill a culture of constant improvement and reform in state government. The Drive started with six projects in 2005, a number that has since doubled.
