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We Don’t Make Widgets

Overcoming the Myths That Keep Government
from Radically Improving

By KEN MILLER

Written for middle- and senior-level managers in state, city and county government, We Don’t Make Widgets: Overcoming the Myths That Keep Government from Radically Improving explodes the myths that prevent dramatic improvement in government operations.

If you’re interested in a new way of thinking about what you do, who you do it for and why you do it, this book — part of the Governing Management Series — is for you. Read it and manage with the best!

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:

Not since the publication of Measuring Up: Governing’s Guide to Performance Measurement for Geniuses (and Other Public Managers) by Jonathan Walters have I had such a laugh-out-loud read of a book on performance measurement. But be warned: Don’t buy this book if you expect to have all of your management and leadership skills validated. Don’t buy it if you want a book that will make you comfortable. But if you want a book that will stimulate your thinking about performance measurement, that has the potential to change how you lead your work team or organization and provides concrete steps for doing so, then this is the book for you.
Michael Lawson
Director, ICMA Center for Performance Measurement

Ken doesn’t just write about radically improving government operations, he has done it! Using the tools he sets forth in this book, Ken helped transform programs as diverse as license bureau services, income tax processing systems and child-abuse hotline operations to provide just what citizens expected: shorter waiting times, quicker income tax refunds and more efficient and accurate handling of hot line calls. In the process, he built teams of dedicated state employees who know that they hold the key to the continued improvement of government services.
Michael Hartmann
Chief of Staff to Missouri Governors Mel Carnahan, Roger B. Wilson, and Bob Holden

This book fills a glaring void in the literature on performance improvement in the government by expanding the frontiers of this field and focusing on the nuts and bolts of actually improving performance. Written from the heart and fun to read, this book is transcendental in its relevance to developed and developing countries. It is a must read for policymakers interested in implementation aspects of good governance.
Dr. Prajapati Trivedi Senior Economist, the World Bank
Visiting Economics Faculty, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

We Don’t Make Widgets is an eminently readable treatise on how government should rethink its approach to everything from child protection to issuing drivers’ licenses. Miller’s send-ups of blue-ribbon panels, performance-based budgeting, pay-for-performance and reorganization as governmental panaceas are worth the price of the book.
Jonathan Walters
Staff correspondent, Governing magazine
Author, Measuring Up: Governing’s Guide to Performance Measurement for Geniuses (and Other Public Managers)

Price: $24.95 per copy
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About the Author

Ken Miller was named one of the country’s top change agents by Fast Company magazine for his work transforming Missouri state agencies into highly productive and efficient organizations, work which won him a promotion to director of performance improvement for the entire state government. Before joining the Missouri Department of Revenue, Miller was a partner with International Management Technologies, and worked with numerous clients in diverse industries on improving customer satisfaction, radical process improvement, and innovation. After serving in Missouri’s state government, Miller founded The Change and Innovation Agency, a consulting firm dedicated to helping its clients improve their operations. He speaks widely and conducts management workshops for Governing across the country. In addition to We Don’t Make Widgets, he is the author of The Change Agent’s Guide to Radical Improvement (2002).