Happy Anniversary, CitiStat.

The CitiStat model, which recently celebrated its 10^th anniversary, has expanded and evolved in many different ways over the last decade.  Even during the early years of CitiStat in Baltimore under then-Mayor O’Malley, the Stat model began its spread outside of City Hall.  The Housing Department set up its own version of CitiStat—called “HousingStat”—and used it as a vehicle for project management and tracking.  As the Deputy responsible for achieving the aggressive acquisition of 5,000 vacant properties in two years, I can tell you in no uncertain terms that we would not have achieved that goal without the Stat process.

What is probably less known is how the Stat model has begun to take root in the public education arena.  “SchoolStat”, which was first implemented in the Baltimore City Schools during O’Malley’s second term as Mayor, has been successfully applied in several school districts and state education agencies across the country, including Philadelphia, PA, Washington, DC, Wichita, KS, Paterson, NJ, and Jackson, MS, among many others.  School districts are Stat-ing everything from building cleanliness to effective teaching techniques, and with the current federal push for more accountability and data-based decision-making in education, we are likely to see much more of SchoolStat in the coming months and years.  While SchoolStat usually looks slightly different the the CitiStat model I participated in during its early days, the same four valuable tenets always apply: accurate and timely intelligence shared by all; effective tactics and strategies; rapid deployment of resources; and relentless follow-up and assessment.

I have no doubt that the “Good Government” practice of CitiStat will continue to find its way into other areas of public sector management.  Baltimore and Maryland deserve a lot of credit for that. (DA)

The Horse We Rode In On.

Welcome to the UPD Consulting blog.  Several years ago, we were a handful of consultants, survivors of the reform battles we waged from inside government and public education with the scars to prove it, reconstituted to help people like us who continue to fight the good fight for better government service.  We have since grown into an “established” consulting firm with a couple dozen consultants of similar pedigree (ex-public sector reformers) and a solid reputation in the government and education accountability arena.

So what?  There are tons of management consulting firms out there with lots to say about just about any subject out there.  Why should anyone listen to us?  What makes us any different?

Good questions all, and since we approach the leaders and “thinkers” of government and education reform with a respectful level of skepticism and irreverence, we’d expect no less from our kind readers.

The honest answer is, we’ve seen a lot.  Good intentions, good ideas, logical reforms, amazing IT systems, dedicated managers, and tons of money all aimed at “fixing” how the public sector works.  So, why are people like us still in business?  We don’t have all the answers, but we think we’ve got something to say even if we don’t take ourselves (or anyone else) too seriously.  Our goal is to facilitate discussion and learn from each other, maybe even spark an idea that hasn’t been tried before.  This isn’t meant as a soapbox so much as a whiteboard.

Anyway, we hope you enjoy following our blog and we encourage you to participate.  Even if it’s just to laugh at our hubris. (DA)