Gov. Ricketts Highlights Harvard Study Recognizing Nebraska's Process Improvement Success

Statement

On Tuesday, Nebraska was recognized for its leading work in process improvement in state government at the National Association of State Chief Administrators' (NASCA) Institute on Management and Leadership Conference in Oklahoma City. At the conference, Nebraska Department of Administrative Services (DAS) Director Jason Jackson, Center of Operational Excellence (COE) Director Matt Singh, and COE Deputy Director Andi Bridgmon participated in a panel discussion on a recently released study from Harvard University highlighting the COE's work in instilling a culture of continuous process improvement in Nebraska state government.

"My administration is constantly working to create a more effective, more efficient, and more customer-focused state government," said Governor Ricketts. "The Center of Operational Excellence has been a key piece in working toward this goal. Because of their hard work, Nebraska is being recognized as a leader by Harvard and NASCA for our best-in-the-field process improvement practices."

During the panel discussion, Director Jackson and his team shared further details of the positive impact that the COE has made in how state government in Nebraska delivers services. They also answered questions from state officials from across the country who view Nebraska as a model of process improvement success.

"This Harvard study is a validation of our efforts to improve services and save taxpayer dollars," said DAS Director Jason Jackson.

The COE utilizes the Lean Six Sigma methodologies to build a culture that values process improvement and continually looks for ways to build a stronger, more efficient state government. In the last three years, the COE has helped facilitate over 300 improvement projects across 16 agencies resulting in over 300,000 hours being freed up for the agencies' teammates to use on other much-needed activities. Through collaboration with the network of process improvement coordinators throughout the State, the COE has trained and certified thousands of teammates helping them learn more about process improvement and organizational problem solving.

"By addressing real-world case studies, written by professors at Leadership for a Networked World at Harvard, these cases offer a profound executive education that present the greatest challenges confronting government organizations," said Dan Kim, NASCA President and Director of the Department of General Services for the State of California. "There are no simple solutions to many of these government operational challenges, yet these dynamic cases share problem-solving strategies to transform government and its services to citizens."

The study was developed by Leadership for a Networked World (LNW) which was founded in 1987 at the Harvard Kennedy School. LNW is an applied research initiative of the Harvard Public Sector Innovation Award Program at the Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard.

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