DECEMBER - JANUARY8GOVBUSINESS REVIEWIN MY OPINIONA Culture of BureaucracyOne definition of bureaucracy from Merriam-Webster that conjures a common perception of government, is that it is "a system of administration marked by lack of flexibility and initiative combined with excessive adherence to regulations in the behavior of usually government officials, red tape, and proliferation". This is a spot-on description of my initial impression and early experience as a Government CIO, coming from the private sector. While I understand the need for bureaucracy in government to combat corruption, ensure transparency, checks and balances, and accountability to the citizenry, I have often felt like the bureaucracy I encountered was overly burdensome, unwieldy, and unproductive.Coupling burdensome bureaucracy with antiquated ways of working and uninformed approaches to process, makes for a potent mix of ineffectiveness and inefficiency. Despite its well-known disadvantages, the most common approach to delivering IT projects in the state and local government sector remains the traditional waterfall project management methodology. It assumes complete knowledge before a project even begins. It assumes three fixed and interdependent constraints that can almost never be kept static--scope, timeline, and budget. According to Standish Group CHAOS Report (2020) Beyond Infinity, 83.9 percent of IT projects fail or are challenged. Whereas Agile projects are three times more likely to have success.At a recent exclusive gathering of city and county CIOs, I heard a litany of stories about failed waterfall projects. The stories included missed go-live dates, scope misses, budget overruns, and in one case, a completely scrapped project.Along with these dismal project statistics and failed project stories, exists an overabundance of inefficient processes, Kevin Gray, Chief Information Officer, City of BurbankByKevin GraySTATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT NEEDS LEAN PRINCIPLES AND AGILE METHODOLOGIES
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