In the world of management consulting, high-powered and often expensive contractors infiltrate all levels of a company to determine how it can run more efficiently--sorting out what sucks up the most money and what can be cut. Large corporations with loads of money to save are often open to the process. Paying a few million to save a billion is quite the bargain.
But what if that large corporation is actually a really big company? One that's headquartered in Washington with more than 1.8 million employees in offices in every state and every major country. One with an annual budget of, say, $3 trillion.
What if that company is... the government?
Enter Nancy Killefer, Barack Obama's nominee to be the government's chief performance officer, a title with a not so-so-subtle nod to the private sector. Which is exactly the point. The new position is Obama's creation, and an indication that he thinks the federal government can, and should, be run a bit more like a company with goals to reach and money to save. "In order to make investments that we need, we'll have to cut the spending that we don't, and I'll be relying on Nancy to help guide that process," Obama told reporters early Wednesday.
So to make it run smoother, faster and, of course, cheaper, Obama brought in Killefer, a partner with global consulting group McKinsey & Company that is widely respected in management consulting circles as one of the industries biggest firms. When nominating her, Obama said that Killefer will meet with cabinet officials to determine "how they can run their agencies with greater efficiency, transparency and accountability." She will set performance standards for federal agencies and monitor the progress of department heads. In essence, she'll be the government's management consultant with broad authority (and backing from Obama) to search for government processes that have either outlived their usefulness or never worked in the first place.
On the question of power, how much weight Killefer's suggestions will carry won't depend on how well she does her job. Rather, her effectiveness will depend on Obama and on his managing style.
As the decider, he'll have to figure how much credence he wants give to her suggestions. Alone, Killefer won't have the authority to make broad changes to administrative infrastructure. But if Obama hears her out when she reports that, for instance, the Attorney General is wasting thousands of dollars on an antiquated way of coordinating conference calls (which a source at Justice tells NEWSWEEK is indeed true), her suggestions could help streamline some of the ways Washington works.
But if Obama decides to just set the ball rolling and limit Killefer's access to him, Killefer and her staff are likely to be perceived as auditors who come with little consequence. And since government departments traditionally have little incentive to innovate, if neither Obama nor department heads give the new chief performance officer much consideration, she may find that the department sucking up the most resources with little to show...is her own.
