Creating

Jobs and Balancing The Budget Through Modern Effective Government Using Lean 6 Sigma: A NEWT 2012 project DRAFT
By Newt Gingrich August 17, 2011 PROPOSITION There are a number of sophisticated management tools which create more productive, more effective patterns of work. Applying Lean Six Sigma across the federal government would save billions of dollars. Some people estimate it could save $500 billion a year or $5 trillion over a ten year period. By comparison the "super committee" is merely trying to save $1.5 trillion. Even more important than savings, a properly focused lean 6 sigma effort could reorient government to act in ways that improve the economy, lead to job creation, and make America much more competitive in the world market. The economic growth and job creation from a more effective, jobs oriented government could generate new resources both for the American people and for government that would dwarf the direct savings from leaner more efficient government (see the 21st century Food and Drug Administration example below). The third positive outcome will be from analysis that takes into account the cost the federal government imposes on the rest of America including state and local governments. In many cases the savings of smarter government will be much bigger for the rest of America than the direct savings from cutting federal costs (the regulatory costs of Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes- Oxley would be two good examples of enormous private sector savings from deregulation).

ACTION STEPS Strong America Now, founded by Mike George, has more than 20,000 petition signers in Iowa alone. It had a very strong presence at Ames on August 13. It was the passion and dedication of Strong America Now volunteers which convinced us Americans were ready for serious, complicated, sophisticated reforms. Applying Lean Six Sigma to government would be the biggest change since the civil service reform movement of the 1880s. Every aspect of modern bureaucratic government would be challenged and changed to implement this new model. Imposing a change this big requires a number of action steps. 1. Educational materials and activities We need a lot of different materials in a number of languages. We must make the ideas easy to understand. We need citizen-leaders willing to: talk on talk radio write letters to the editor brief local editorial writers and reporters Write on blogs and brief bloggers Organize volunteers to buy local ads Speak to civic and business clubs Speak to political meetings of both parties (we want Democrats as well as Republicans implementing lean six sigma) Helping find businesses which are using lean 6 sigma and which are willing to show elected officials, their staffs, candidates and news media how powerful new thinking is in the real world Talking to elected officials at school board, city and county government and state government about implementing lean six sigma (as we enforce the tenth amendment and return power and responsibility to state and

local government and to citizens we have to modernize government at those levels). Go to town hall meetings and to member offices so federal Congressmen and Senators and their staffs (including committee staffs). Develop testimony for congressional hearings (all 117 committees and subcommittees in Congress should hold hearings on applying lean 6 sigma to their jurisdictions). Develop training programs for the executive branch. 2. Evolving a better system We need practitioners, consultants and academics willing to work together to build a systematic understanding of a government and society focused lean 6 sigma system. We need a network of people who have actually applied lean six sigma in government who can be both eye-witnesses and mentors. We should canvass the congress, both Members and staff, to see how many already have experience with lean six sigma and want to work to develop the new system and culture. Since Congressman Tom Latham has introduced a lean six sigma bill we should work to get cosponsors for it. We need case studies of past success. We need academics and consultants to monitor the new implementations and build lessons learned. This is a ten year or more process of evolving an entirely new method and pattern if government which will require a new culture in congress and a new culture in the executive branch. Developing that will work much better if people are studying it and offering midcourse corrections as we learn. We need a model bill to replace the civil service laws which have trapped the government into rigidity, inefficiency and ineffectiveness.

We need a bill to provide for $1 a year consultants and managers on the World War 2 model. It would be literally illegal today to mobilize the American people and the talent of American entrepreneurs and executives the way we did in World War Two. We need a model bill to cut through the time consuming regulatory processes. In the age of the internet we should be able to develop ideas and publish them online and have rapid response, analysis and decision in a timeline much closer to modern business. 3. SMART GOVERNMENT NOW: The September Opportunity The concept of a 12 person "super committee" to find $1.5 trillion in savings is inherently wrong. There are 535 house and senate members. The other 523 should be involved. There are 117 committees and subcommittees with experienced members and staff. All should be engaged in fundamental rethinking. The $1.5 trillion goal is too small. The Obama deficits are project to add over $9 trillion in new debt. The goal of modernization should be a balanced budget and then surpluses to pay down the debt. We need ideas and suggestions for every subcommittee and committee. We should encourage every American with experience in lean six sigma to make their recommendations for hearings and projects for all 117 of the committees and subcommittees. 4. Coordination and implementation This is an enormous project. It is far beyond the ability of the Newt 2012 team to coordinate and implement without a lot of help. 5. A 21st Century Food and Drug Administration as a model. The current culture and structure of the FDA is adversarial, arms length,

slow, and expensive. It kills continuous improvement because every change costs so much to get approved. It kills small innovations and small startups because it is too expensive and takes too much time. The cost of FDA procedures in time and money is driving American science out of the country. More and more breakthroughs in American laboratories will become products in China, India, Singapore, Japan, or Europe and then be exported to the United States. We will lose hundreds of thousands of jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars. Since health will be the biggest market in the world the potential jobs and sales for the leading health country is enormous. A 21st century FDA would have as its mission being in the laboratory as new science was developed and accelerating its delivery to the patient and the market. A 21st century FDA would measure its success by how many new American products were approved and how much America led the world in introducing new health solutions. This requires a profound change in structure, systems and culture from the current FDA. This should be an early project of the SMART GOVERNMENT NOW effort and should lead to extensive House and Senate hearings this fall. It is one of the most important jog creating reforms government could undertake.