Quality Standards for Highly Effective Government: No Book Has More Potential to Positively Transform Government Since Reinventing Government

This book presents a simple framework and guidelines for implementing visible and uniform auditable standards of quality in government that can fundamentally and permanently reshape its efficiency, effectiveness, and value. It opens the possibility of a day in the not-too-distant future when a quality audit can provide a uniform and valid report card on every government agency that is a companion to an annual audit of the financial books. Its easy-to-use quality standards are objective, measurable, and transformational. The standards provide the missing link for the implementation of quality in government both because they align with fundamental good management technique and support any other quality disciplines already in place in any given jurisdiction. The standards are designed to mirror the three fundamental levels of leadership in government: (1) Work unit supervisors and managers at the "front line" of government service, (2) chief executives, department directors and their deputies as "executive management" of government agencies, and (3) elected leadership at the top, who provide "public management" and must define the priorities, outcomes, programs, and budgets. No book has had a bigger potential to positively transform government since Reinventing Government. It is a "must read" for elected leaders, public sector managers, and citizens who wonder why government is so often unable to achieve excellence.

Rich Mallory is an acknowledged expert on government, having served for three years as a professional staff member for a US senator, nine years as a senior executive in both state and federal government, for nineteen years as a consultant to federal, state, and local governments. He has unique knowledge of government operations obtained both as a consultant to hundreds of jurisdictions and agencies around the United States, as the director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development and as California-Nevada state director for the US Department of Agriculture. Mallory is a seven-time examiner for the Baldrige Quality Award, six times for the California State Award, and once at the national level. Currently he is a senior project manager for CPS HR Consulting and chair of Government Division of the American Society for Quality. Mallory is author of Quality Standards for Highly Effective Government and Management Strategy: Creating Excellent Organizations. He holds a master's degree in management and is a certified project management professional.