www.faama.org

> A Journal of the Federal Aviation Administration Managers Association Sept/Oct 2007: Vol. 5 No. 5

04 TimetoStandUpandAct

06 CleanAIREandGreenSkiesAhead?

09 SixTrendsTransformingGovernment

16 BarringtonIrving:BreakingRecords,CreatingOpportunities

20 PROFILE:SenatorJoeLieberman

24 LeadingasWeEvolve:ATOCulturalChange

faa managers association, inc. #3154410 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016Tel 703.842.7406 | www.faama.org

WeKnow.WeCare.WeDeliver. Promoting excellence in public service, the FAA Managers Association is recognized by the FAA to represent all levels of management through all lines of business. We are committed to increasing the accountability to our owners, improving service to our customers, and fostering a professional workplace for our employees in which they can excel and take pride. FAA Managers Association is a forum for managers, supervisors, administrative, and non-bargaining unit staff to effect change.

officersPresident, Steve BakerVice President, David Conley Secretary, Cindy GreeneTreasurer, Tom Dury

directorsDirector of Administration, Billy ReedDirector of Communications, John SiderisDirector of Legislative Affairs, Steve SmithMembership Chairman, Brian DeBordAlaska Region, Tom Anderson – Keith Lindsay, incoming Sept. 20Central Region, Bret Spencer – Michael Harvey, incoming Sept. 20Eastern Region, Jim CoschignanoGreat Lakes Region, Marianna (Mimi) CarnesNew England Region, Michael WayneNorthwest Mountain Region, Ralph WaltersSouthern Region, Bob HildebidleSouthwest Region, Dr. Judy HolcombWestern Pacific Region, William Washington

publisherKathleen Cummins Mifsud

managing editorJohn D. Sideris

staff editorsAl Snedaker, Tony Tisdall, and Julie Fidler

contributorsSteve Baker, Kathleen Cummins Mifsud, Mark Abramson, Jonathan Breul, John Kamensky, Bob Hildebidle, Joseph Post, Dr. Isa Campbell and Chris Kominoth.

photography and illustrationCover illustration and page 3, Bill Firestone; images on pages 9-10, IBM Center for The Business of Government; and photos pages 16-17, John Rodriguez.

designSagetopia, 703.726.6400, www.sagetopia.com

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ManagingtheSkies is published bi-monthly by the FAA Managers Association, Inc.

The views expressed herein are solely those of the authors and should not be construed to be the opinion of the FAA Managers Association. Suggestions and opinions expressed in Managing the Skies are not necessarily endorsed by the FAA Managers Association. Nothing in these pages is intended to supersede operators’ or manufacturers’ policies, practices, or requirements, or to supersede government regulations.

©2007 FAA Managers Association, Inc. All rights reserved.

AbouttheCover:Greening of aviation? When did this happen? What does it mean? Artist Bill Firestone portrays a simpler time many decades before the word “greening” had any meaning when used in conjunction with “aviation.” Ironically, the small fictitious airport is situated in the middle of a Midwestern corn field. Today, those same Corn Belt fields are being positioned as a potential source of an alternative fuel – ethanol.

Who could imagine that emissions from airplanes could make a measurable difference in the vast skies of the world? See page 5 for an explanation of AIRE, a bold new initiative between the FAA and the European Union that addresses the greening of aviation as defined in 2007 and beyond.

Contents

02 GEICO www.geico.com 08 FAA First Federal Credit Union www.faafirst.org 23 Wright & Co. www.wrightandco.com 25 Silver State Air Traffic Control Training www.SilverStateATC.com 28 Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program www.LTCFEDS.com 31 Sprint www.sprint.com 32 BlueCross BlueShield Federal Employee Program www.fepblue.org

04 05 06 09

16 18 20 22

24 26 29 30

PERSPECTIVE: Time to Stand Up and Act

Administrator Blakey Announces New Green Initiative in Paris – Puts Implementation on a Fast Track

Adieu Administrator Blakey

Clean AIRE and Green Skies Ahead?

Six Trends Transforming Government: Demographics, technology and new modes of service delivery are causing a metamorphosis in government management

Breaking Records, Creating Opportunities

An Interview with Barrington Irving

PROFILE: Senator Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.)

OPINION: Does the FAA Need an Advocate for General Aviation?

Leading as We Evolve: ATO Cultural Change Initiatives Stay on Track

EAP: A Resource for Managers

Recognizing and Managing Sickle Cell Disease

2007-2008 FAAMA/FEEA Scholarship Winners Announced

Index to Advertisers

A JOURNAL OF THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION MANAGERS ASSOCIATION

SEPT / OCT 2007: Vol. 5 No. 5

4 managingtheskies Sept/Oct 2007 www.faama.org

With the new global focus on the environment, this issue of Managing the Skies is taking a first look at what the FAA

is doing in terms of the environment

and how the agency is proceeding in

achieving a number of relatively new

objectives. But, as a concept, the meaning

of “greening of aviation” is a bit difficult

to comprehend in a practical way.

WhatDoes“Green”MeanattheFAA?Some research was in order. I wondered

what the general public thinks when the

words “green” and “aviation” are connected.

So, I consulted the closest source – my

Kansas City neighbours. What do ordinary

people think the FAA can do to help with

the “greening” of the environment?

What I quickly discovered was that

“environmentally friendly” means something

different to everyone. I also learned that

most folks assume that they have nothing

to do with aviation if they do not work

specifically in that area. They know, of

course, that I work for the FAA.

When asked, “What do you think is

the most important thing the FAA could

do to help the environment?” – the first

neighbour answered, “The FAA must

generate tons of paper! I hope you have

a very aggressive recycling program.”

I followed that response with another

question, “Should the FAA be involved

in requiring more fuel efficient aircraft or

less noise-producing aircraft?” He simply

said, “That’s not the FAA’s problem – it’s

the problem of the airlines.”

So, I spoke to the next neighbour.

He responded, “Just make sure the

airplanes don’t fly over my house!” The

third neighbour answered: “I fly a lot,

and wish that the airlines could schedule

the aircraft so that they get me there on

time.” A fourth neighbour commented,

“I don’t really care if it gets me there on

time, as long as the plane leaves when it

is supposed to.”

The group digressed into a long conver-

sation about scheduling practices, customer

desires, etc. We never really came back to

the original topic (which is not unusual at

our Saturday morning old guys sessions

(affectionately called SMOGS). The bottom

line is that for regular Joe American, the

following is probably true:

1. Ecology or “greening” of the aviation community is not high on their priority list of things to discuss and/or worry about.

2. Joe American, or at least these particular Kansas City Joe’s (all in their 70’s) – outside of paper recycling – do not see “greening” as an FAA issue.

TheFAAisActivelyInvolvedintheGreeningofAviationAfter reading this first article about the

FAA’s AIRE initiative, I think you will see

that, in fact, the FAA is actively involved

and deeply committed to ensuring that

the aviation community is doing every-

thing possible to reduce the ecological

impact of all aspects of aviation. Work-

ing with community alliances, the FAA

is tackling aircraft emissions, aircraft

scheduling, the environmental impact of

airports and even the recycling of paper

and other waste materials.

The issue is real and serious. And, the

time to stand up and act is now. Going

forward, environmental issues are going

to be a daily part of our lives. As leaders,

FAAMA members will be working as

individuals and as an agency to make

certain that we minimize or eliminate the

negative environmental impact of aviation

on the wonderful world in which we live

– the same world which our children and

grandchildren will inherit. ❙

We Know. We Care. We Deliver.

Steve Baker, President

FAA Managers Association, Inc.

�TimetoStandUpandActA message from the president

Over the roar of planes at the Paris Air Show in June, Administrator Blakey and European Union officials announced a joint action plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft. The project, called AIRE (Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions), is the first large-scale environmental initiative bringing together aviation players from both sides of the Atlantic.

per

spec

tive

www.faama.org managingtheskies Sept/Oct 2007 5

“ABigStepattheRightTime”Each side of the Atlantic needs to take

steps to manage the emissions of its own

airlines. The good news in the US is that our

airlines are producing 10 million tons less

of CO2 than we did in 2000 even though

passenger and cargo counts are up consider-

ably. And even though aviation represents

less than three percent of the world’s green-

house gas emissions, it’s imperative that we

still push to do more. We are…

The initiative we’re announcing today is

one more step in the right direction. AIRE

– A-I-R-E, the Atlantic Interoperability

Initiative to Reduce Emissions – is all about

fresh air. Through AIRE, we’re joining forces

across the ocean – government, industry,

airlines, manufacturers, and service

providers – to pull in the same direction.

The AIRE partnership represents a lot of

work that we’ve been doing separately; but

now we’re doing it together. This partner-

ship will be used to develop operational

procedures to reduce our environmental

footprint. It will accelerate environmentally

friendly procedures and standards. AIRE

will capitalize on existing technology and

best practices. And AIRE will help us achieve

each of these with a systematic approach…

First and foremost, we’ll use trajectory-

based operations on the ground to minimize

aircraft run time…After takeoff comes

collaborative oceanic trajectory optimiza-

tion, which promises major fuel reduction at

cruise. Heading into the destination, we’ll be

using oceanic tailored arrivals, a low power,

continuous descent approach that has

planes gliding smoothly in to the runway

with minimal power. That cuts fuel, noise

and emissions. That could save as much as

a ton of CO2 per flight. That’s like planting a

tree with each flight.

We’ll begin field trials of these differ-

ent elements on new routes between our

countries later this year. On the U.S. side,

we’ll include projects like continuous

descent approach at Atlanta with multiple

airlines. We also will develop a coastal

tailored arrivals program for flights into

Miami… aviation does indeed need to

make a statement, and AIRE will do it.

When you slice time and fuel, the natu-

ral by-product is a reduction in greenhouse

gases. When you do it in collaboration

across the ocean, you magnify the results. In

a few years, we’re going to look back at this

effort as a model for how to get it done. ❙

Ê�AdministratorBlakeyAnnouncesNewGreenInitiativeinParis–PutsImplementationonaFastTrackExcerpts from an address by FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey at the Paris Air Show, June 18, 2007:

The FAA Managers Association extends best wishes to Marion Blakey, who served as the fifteenth Administrator of the FAA from 2002 through September 13, 2007. She has been a loyal, supportive friend to the Association, speaking at a number of FAAMA Conferences and regularly soliciting counsel from Association leadership.

Marion Blakey came to the FAA with a background in business and government. During her tenure, she introduced best business practices into the agency’s management and leadership approaches and processes. Examples include competitive sourcing (A-76), a reauthorization proposal aimed at providing a more stable source of funding, performance metrics, NextGen, the AIRE initiative and much, much more.

On August 21, the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) announced that she will be joining as president and CEO effective November 12. In her new role, Blakey will be a spokesperson to the federal

government for the makers of commercial aircraft and for contractors to the Pentagon.

industry leaders urge president to quickly appoint new faa administrator In a joint letter, leaders of 18 major aviation associations urge President Bush to quickly appoint a new FAA Administrator. “General aviation and the airlines don’t agree on the FAA funding issue, but when it comes to choosing an FAA administrator, all of aviation is flying in formation,” AOPA said. “Our nation cannot afford a recess appointee as we face the time-critical challenge of modernizing our nation’s aviation infrastructure.”

The letter states there is a “vital need to nominate a strong individual” as the next administrator as soon as possible, and continues: “We are united in our belief that modernization is absolutely necessary and that critical decisions impacting the entire aviation infrastructure will need to be made in the next two years…”

AdieuAdministratorBlakey:An Appreciation of Excellence

6 managingtheskies Sept/Oct 2007 www.faama.org

In Brussels on June 19th, Jacques Barrot, European Commission Vice-President responsible for transport, and Marion Blakey, FAA Administrator, launched – in the presence of aircraft industry represen-tatives – a new transatlantic emission-reduction initiative called AIRE.

United States and European Union (EU) air traffic represent 60 percent of the world’s total. The joint initiative AIRE (Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emis-sions) fits in with the cooperation protocol signed by the Commission and the FAA to coordinate two major programs on air traffic control infrastructure moderniza-tion, Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) in Europe and NextGen in the US.

AIRE will make it possible to speed up the application of new technologies and operational procedures which will have a direct impact in the short and medium term on greenhouse gas emissions. The measures include “smooth” or “reduced engine” approaches (which will enable noise and exhaust gas emissions to be reduced during landing). Experiments with these measures, carried out at Stockholm, Louisville and Atlanta, have shown substantial savings in fuel and CO2 and NOx emissions.

“The future of the aviation industry depends on its ability to combat climate change through innovation and greater efficiency, and this initiative will enable us to speed up the application of technologies and procedures having a direct impact on greenhouse gas emissions,” Jacques Barrot observed. “Following the major success of our Open Skies agreement, this is further proof that the EU and the US benefit from working together in the aviation sector. We both want a sky open to aircraft but not to emissions,” he added.

AIREistheFirstLarge-ScaleGreenInitiativeJoiningPlayersfromBothSidesoftheAtlanticAIRE is based on gate-to-gate test campaigns and experiments, which make it possible

to assess the new measures’ environmental benefits and operational and technical fea-sibility. Accordingly, the Commission and the FAA are ensuring that this initiative is undertaken with the close involvement of partners from the industry, such as aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing; operators Air France KLM, SAS, Delta and FEDEX and aviation navigation service providers such as IAA (Ireland), LFV (Sweden) and NAV (Portugal).

Air France KLM endorsed the new AIRE initiative and is evaluating “green routes” between its home bases in Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Schiphol and the North American destinations its airlines serve. The aim of these measures is to guarantee optimum en route flight paths to minimize CO2 emissions on all transatlantic flights. The Group is investing between 1.1 and 1.5 billion euros a year from 2007 to 2011 to improve the energy efficiency of its fleet and reduce its fuel consumption.

AIRE is a genuine partnership bringing together aviation players with the common aim of environmental conservation. Jacques Barrot and other EU officials also praised FAA Administrator Blakely for helping to put implementation of the AIRE program on a political fast track. The initial partnership will be expanded as best practices and new technologies spread in Europe and the US.

Excerpts from a June 18, 2007 article by Aoife White, Associated Press:

EuropeanUnion,USLaunchPlantoCutAirlineEmissionsbyImprovingAirTrafficControlThe EU and the US said they would cut emissions from aircraft by improving air traffic control systems. But the agreement does not head off a fight over the EU’s separate plan to make all airlines that fly to Europe trade carbon permits…the EU’s executive arm insisted that this research program was only part of its push to cut emissions from aviation…

U.S. officials have warned that including

non-European airlines in the EU cap-and-trade program may break international aviation and trade law…Europe wants all airlines that fly within the EU to trade pollution allowances beginning in 2011, forcing them to buy more if they want to increase their flights.

Excerpts from a June 2007 article by Robert W. Moorman in Air Cargo World:

SellingGreen:WithPressurefromEuropeandEnvironmentalists,Airlines,ShippersandManufacturersareWorkingtoReducePollution…The accord, appropriately dubbed AIRE, does nothing to settle the dispute over the EU’s proposal to cap carbon emissions and force all airlines operating to and from Europe to participate in a market-based emissions trading scheme by 2011…The US view of how to manage and reduce car-bon emissions, said Carl Burleson, director of FAA’s Office of Environment and Energy, is in its so-called “five pillars” template:

• Perform the necessary science to determine what needs to be solved;

• Accelerate improvements of existing operations procedures through agreements like AIRE;

• Accelerate the introduction of better emissions reducing technology;

• Quicken the US’s Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuel Initiative;

• Implement market based measures to reduce pollution, like emissions trading.

Burleson said the US doesn’t oppose emissions trading, but is against the EU’s legislative proposal to “unilaterally require participation” of every airline without the consent of the countries affected…

Excerpts from a June 21, 2007 article in ENDS Europe Daily:

BritishPilotsComplainof“Exaggerated”FearsoverSector’sClimateImpactThe EU and US have agreed a scheme to fast-track new technologies and procedures

ÊClean AIRE*andGreen Skies Ahead?

www.faama.org managingtheskies Sept/Oct 2007 7

to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from aviation…In a separate development, the British airline pilots’ association issued a report arguing that the aviation sector’s contribution to climate change had been “exaggerated”. It says the projected growth in CO2 emissions from aviation will be lower than many predict due to “technological and operational improve-ments”. The report concludes that drastic restrictions in air travel are “inappropriate” and will do “enormous damage to the world economy”.

Excerpts from an August 15, 2007 article by Alister Doyle, Reuters:

AviationGreenhouseCurbsMayFallShort-ExpertsThe aviation industry may be more damag-ing to the environment than widely thought because aircraft not only release carbon dioxide but they also produce other harmful gases that warm the earth, experts said.

A tented camp of about 250 climate protests at London’s Heathrow airport highlights pressures to include aviation in a global pact to fight global warming. But planes are among the least understood sources of emissions…

Planes’ climate impact may be magni-fied by factors including heat-trapping nitrogen oxides that are more damaging at high altitude. Jet condensation trails may contribute to the formation of a blanket of high-altitude cirrus clouds…

International flights are now excluded from the Kyoto Protocol, the main UN plan for curbing climate change to 2012. The EU is among those aiming to include avia-tion after 2012 while the US is opposed.

Excerpts from an August 17, 2007 article by Mark Rice-Oxley in The Christian Science Monitor:

AirTravelLatestTargetinClimateChangeFight–Technology,TaxationandRationingAreAllBeingEyedasPossibleSolutionsFor the hundreds of climate-change activists who’ve camped out by

Heathrow Airport, there is just one way to reduce aircrafts’ carbon footprint: stop flying.

“Aviation is a luxury we can live with-out,” says a protester named Merrick. Air travel, he says, is booming, multiplying greenhouse gases just as the climate-change imperative starts to bite. “It has to be scaled right back.”

…The statistics look ominous. Aviation currently contributes about 3 percent of global carbon emissions, but air travel is growing at some 5 percent a year, meaning numbers of air passenger kilometers will triple by 2030…Added to this is the com-plication that aircraft do not just give off carbon dioxide but nitrous oxide, thought to have at least double the impact of CO2, and condensation trails, which also may contribute to global warming…a growing body of opinion is arguing for efforts to manage demand for air travel…

Excerpts from an article by David Bond in the August 19, 2007 Aviation Week and Space Technology:

ForAviation’sGreenhouse-GasEmissions,It’sTechnologyversusGrowthCommercial aviation, faced with world-wide concerns about greenhouse gases and looming regulations to reduce them, can count on advances in technology that will help to clean up its operations to a substantial degree during the coming 20 years. But growth in air travel, both an enabler and a product of the burgeoning global economy, is likely to use up the environmental gains faster than they can be achieved…

…As aviation grows in the coming years and consumes more fuel, it seems certain to become a part of emissions-trading systems being developed to control and eventually reduce the amount of green-house gases in the atmosphere. The EU has such a system and intends to apply it to commercial aviation, starting in 2011.

The International Civil Aviation Organization, meeting next

month in Montreal, will consider plans to set up a global regime. As with noise years ago, Europe is ahead of the greenhouse-gas regulatory game, and airlines and manu-facturers are counting on an ICAO system to reflect what they can attain technologi-cally and affordably…

Excerpts from an article by Bryan Walsh in the August 20, 2007 issue of Time:

DoesFlyingHarmthePlanet?Given the rage that air travel can provoke in even the most tranquil among us these days, it may be surprising that riot police aren’t a more regular feature at airports. But the pitched battle between roughly 500 environmental activists and a phalanx of baton-wielding police at London’s Heathrow airport wasn’t about long lines, delays, lost luggage or missed connections.

Instead, the protesters – who had dem-onstrated outside Heathrow all of last week – were trying to draw travelers’ attention to the impact on climate change of the carbon gases emitted by the aircraft in which they fly. A placard from one activist at Heathrow expressed it thus: “You Fly, They Die.”

…Perhaps that there is no solution, or at least no simple one – aside from just flying less, as the Heathrow activists demanded. And there’s little sign of that happening, as air passenger numbers rose 6.3 percent globally through the first half of 2007...until technology and policy catch up…carbon emissions will only slow if consumers choose to use less energy, live more modestly, and fly less. In other

words, stay at home to save the world. ❙

ÊClean AIRE*andGreen Skies Ahead? * Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions (AIRE) Aims to Lead to Greener Air Traffic ManagementBy Kathleen Cummins Mifsud

www.faama.orgmanaging the skiesSept/Oct2007 9

In the late 1990s, no one suspected that government management would dramatically change the way it has today – in emergency response; in the use

of “311” service calling, Blackberries, and

other personal electronic tools; and in

operations, such as the Internal Revenue

Service (IRS) transformation from a

paper-bound agency to one of the most

effi cient in electronic services. Public

managers must constantly look for ways

to adopt, adapt, or innovate new ways

to deliver services.

The IBM Center for The Business

of Government commissions research

reports by leading academics that examine

the challenges facing public managers.

Since 1998, the center has been studying

the fl uid shifts in public management at all

levels of government in the United States

and other countries around the world.

This article summarizes a recent report,

which analyzes the insights of more than

160 other reports and describes six

trends that refl ect the interrelated effects

of demographics, technology, and new

ways of delivering services. Free copies

of this report, as well as all reports cited

in this article, are available from www.

businessofgovernment.org.

These six trends (Figure 1), often in

combination with one another, are helping

government successfully respond to ever-

increasing complex challenges. The six

trends span all levels of government

– federal, state, and local – domestic and

abroad. Many fi rst appeared in foreign

countries and then spread to the United

States, some became commonplace in

state or local government before national

adoption, and others were spearheaded

by the federal government.

1. Changing the Rules Government has been engaged in an

ongoing effort to change the “rules of the

game”: the formal laws, administrative

requirements, and organizational structures

that create and shape the actions of civil

servants and citizens. In many ways, this

trend is a common thread through the

other fi ve trends.

By changing these rules, managers gain

more fl exibility, which allows them to use

performance management more effectively;

provide competition, choice, and incentives;

and perform on demand, engage citizens,

and use networks and partnerships. This

trend also removes impediments to

achieving high performance in a more

results-oriented government.

The rules relate to the core administrative

procedures governing civil service systems,

procurement practices, budgeting, and

fi nancial management. Governments are

increasingly discarding generic approaches

and permitting departments and agencies

more managerial fl exibility, with customized

operating procedures and approaches to

delivering services.

Going one step further – giving program

managers more managerial fl exibility and

holding them accountable for perfor-

mance (the second trend) – is a powerful

incentive for results-based management.

Ê Six Trends Transforming GovernmentDemographics, technology and new modes of service delivery are causing a metamorphosis in government managementByMarkAbramson,ExecutiveDirector;JonathanBreul,SeniorFellow;andJohnKamensky,SeniorFellow;IBMCenterforTheBusinessofGovernment

figure 1. six trends Source:AdaptedfromtheIBMCenterforTheBusinessofGovernment

10 managing the skiesSept/Oct2007www.faama.org

Also, delegating managers such authority

gives those who know the most about an

agency’s programs the power and flexibility

to make the programs work. In recent

years, the rules have changed the most in

three areas: human capital, financial man-

agement, and organizational structure.

human capital Reform of the U.S. federal civil service

system has become a national issue, much

as it has in other countries over the past

decade. After years of relative stability,

the federal personnel system is now in

the midst of a period of profound change.

Beginning in the 1990s, a number of

federal agencies under pressure to improve

performance were granted special human

resource management (HRM) flexibilities.

The IRS, for example, received such

flexibilities as part of the IRS Restructuring

and Reform Act of 1998. Since passage

of that law, the IRS has made remarkable

strides in modernizing its structure, busi-

ness practices, technology, and processes

for collecting taxes. The HRM flexibilities

provided in the act were critical to the

success of that transformation. Can this

transformation be replicated elsewhere?

Should it?

Part of the debate over the creation of

the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

(DHS) was the amount of managerial flex-

ibility to be given to the new department

in the areas of hiring, firing, promoting,

moving, and retaining federal civil servants.

The Homeland Security Act of 2002 autho-

rized significant changes in the management

of human capital. Congress and the presi-

dent exempted DHS from key provisions

of the federal civil service law, including

those relating to compensation, classifica-

tion, hiring, and promotion. The same law

did away government-wide with the “rule of

three” – which required managers to select

their new hires from among the top three

available candidates referred – an artifact of

federal hiring practices that dates back to

the 1870s.

In describing a parallel push by the

U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Under

Secretary of Defense for Personnel and

Readiness David Chu said, “The current

system is not agile enough. The civil service

system has the right values, but its processes

are outdated.” Like DHS, DoD received

legislative authority to move to a new

personnel system. Pentagon officials are

now implementing the National Security

Personnel System to modernize the

department’s civilian personnel system

by reclassifying jobs and placing employ-

ees in broad pay-bands intended to give

managers greater flexibility in hiring and

setting pay raises.

The General Schedule and its guaranteed

raises are to be replaced by performance-

based increases determined after more

rigorous and meaningful performance

reviews. Similar changes have taken place at

the state and local levels; for example, gov-

ernments in Texas, Florida, Georgia, and

Prince Georges County, Maryland, all have

moved away from a traditional civil service

structure to performance-based systems.

But implementation is the challenge

to achieving success. Will it be worth the

effort? “Yes,” says performance pay expert

Howard Risher, “organizations benefit when

they recognize and reward employee and

group performance.” Risher emphasizes

that no textbook answers apply and that

new pay-for-performance policies must fit

the organization and its approach to man-

agement. He also warns that the transition

to a pay-for-performance environment is

not going to be easy, suggesting that it may

well prove to be the most difficult change

any organization has ever attempted.

Shelley Metzenbaum, a performance

measurement expert, supports Risher’s

contention that a shift to performance-based

pay is risky. In fact, she concludes that the

risks and potential damage to an organiza-

tion’s performance are not worth the effort.

In a recent study, she says an improperly

designed performance pay system “can

rob goals and measures of their ability to

stimulate the kind of effort and innovation

that results in continual, sometimes dra-

matic, improvements in societal conditions.

And, they easily provoke unproductive fear

that interferes with improvement efforts,

especially when accountability expectations

are left vague.” Nevertheless, she concludes

that measuring performance is an essential

element of accountability, but caution must

be used if tied to pay.

financial management The federal government has a long history

of adopting and adapting successful and

prudent business practices from the private

sector, such as in the Chief Financial

Officers (CFO) Act of 1990 and Govern-

ment Management Reform Act (GMRA) of

1994, which require agencies to undergo

financial audits similar to those in the

private sector. Agency efforts to get and

keep clean audit opinions have been

supported by policies and practices that

make use of key organizational factors

and management strategies: leadership

support, positive resource allocations,

constructive partnerships with auditors,

cooperation with function and line man-

agers, short-term systems solutions, and

extraordinary effort.

This increased emphasis on measure-

ment – linked to the Government Perfor-

mance and Results Act (GPRA) and more

recently the Budget and Performance

Integration initiative in The President’s

Management Agenda – has prompted federal

executives to develop new methods to

understand and document the “true costs”

www.faama.orgmanaging the skiesSept/Oct2007 11

of providing services to their own organi-

zations and other units of government.

The movement toward managing costs at

the Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC)

has been chronicled by Michael Barzelay and

Fred Thompson, who write, “By the end of

[General George T.] Babbitt’s three-year tour

of duty as commander, AFMC managers had

accumulated substantial experience with the

cost management approach, including the

expanded scope of AFMC’s influence over

the allocation of resources within a finan-

cial management performance framework

acceptable to the Air Force.” The question

facing other government agencies is whether

they will adopt a similar cost management

approach, which these authors characterize

as a focus on accomplishments (rather than

on inputs) and substantial efforts to maxi-

mize productivity and understand costs.

organizational structure Following the 9/11 attacks, interest in

structural reform of government depart-

ments and agencies has renewed. Three

prominent examples are the formation in

2001 of the Transportation Security Admin-

istration, the merger in 2002 of twenty-two

agencies and 170,000 employees into DHS,

and the creation late in 2004 of the Office

of the Director of National Intelligence.

Experience renders some lessons about

preferred organizational forms. Elements

such as leadership, quality of personnel and

systems, level of funding, and freedom from

unwise legal and regulatory constraints may

be as important as organizational structure

in the search for solutions to many prob-

lems that confront government agencies

and programs.

Thomas H. Stanton, an astute observer of

government organizations, set forth reasons

why reorganizations are often needed:

“ There are a number of sound reasons

to create a new organization or to

reorganize. These include the need

to: (1) combine related programs

from disparate governmental units to

provide an organizational focus and

accountability for carrying out high-

priority public purposes, (2) help assure

that information flows to the proper

level of government for consideration

and possible action, (3) change policy

emphasis and assure that resources are

more properly allocated to support

high-priority activities, and (4) deter-

mine who controls and is accountable

for certain governmental activities.”

In contrast to Stanton’s study on the

decision factors for reorganizing, LBJ School

of Public Affairs professor Peter Frumkin

looks at what happened after the decision

is made. He examines six case studies of

public-sector mergers – four at the state

level, one at the local level, and one at the

federal level. He concludes that managers

must focus on five critical areas in imple-

menting mergers: choosing targets wisely,

communicating effectively, implementing

quickly, creating a new culture, and adjust-

ing over time.

2. Using Performance Management A second key trend, perhaps the linchpin,

is the increased use of performance

management in governments. Burt Perrin,

an international observer of performance

measurement trends, provides substantial

evidence that governments around the

globe are taking a results-oriented approach

in a wide variety of contexts.

From assessments by officials from

six developed nations and six from

the developing world, Perrin identifies

state-of-the-art practices and thinking

that go beyond the current literature. He

makes it clear that no one “correct” or

best model applies in all countries. Yet

both developed and developing countries

have demonstrated that it is possible to

move toward an outcome orientation that

emphasizes results that matter to citizens.

Perrin’s assessment of performance

management follows a series of studies

sponsored by the center in the last eight

years that examine how U.S. federal, state,

and local governments developed strategic

approaches to link organizational goals

to intended results, often in customer-

centric terms and occasionally beyond the

boundaries of individual agencies. These

reports document several of the more

innovative approaches.

At the federal level, Philip G. Joyce, a

specialist on performance budgeting, finds

that strategic planning and the supply of

performance and cost information has

increased substantially in the years since

GPRA’s passage in 1993. Joyce argues that

the federal government has never been in

a better position to make its budget deci-

sions more informed by considerations of

performance. He identifies many potential

uses of performance information in the

federal budget process and cites numerous

examples, particularly at the agency level,

where such information is being used.

Although Joyce assesses the use of

performance information to make resource

decisions, business management scholars

Nicholas Mathys and Kenneth Thompson

describe how two large federal agencies

adapted a commercial practice – the

Balanced Scorecard – to their operations

and have used performance information

for more than five years to focus and

drive program implementation. In both

agencies, creating performance measures

assessing the “voices” of the customer,

employee, and business helped sharpen

focus, set clear goals and strategies, and

translate those strategies into action.

state government State governments in the United States

have often led the development of perfor-

mance management systems. Professors

Julia Melkers and Katherine Willoughby

examine performance measurement

in state governments and the lasting

quality of these reforms. They identify

two important changes from the past.

First, and foremost, performance-based

budgeting efforts have been integrated

with other public management reforms.

Second, information technology advances

have dramatically changed the way per-

formance information can be maintained

and examined over time.

local government At the local level in the United States,

two cities have pioneered the use of

12 managing the skiesSept/Oct2007www.faama.org

crosscutting performance management as

a way of improving organizational perfor-

mance. The New York City Police Depart-

ment (NYPD) attributes the 67 percent

drop in the city’s murder rate between

1993 and 1998 to its CompStat program.

Iona College professor Paul O’Connell doc-

uments how the NYPD uses performance

data to create and enforce accountability

weekly in each of the police precincts.

He describes how the department shifted

from being a centralized, functional organi-

zation to a decentralized, geographic one.

By using, as former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani

described it, “a computer-driven program

that helps ensure executive accountabil-

ity,” the department was able to change

its culture to allow greater participation in

decision making, leading to more collabora-

tive problem-solving between different city

departments, such as the housing authority,

subway system, and district attorney’s office.

The success in New York City inspired

the Baltimore CitiStat program. The same

approach was used, but extended beyond

law enforcement to a range of other city

services. University of Baltimore profes-

sor Lenneal Henderson describes in a

separate case study how Martin O’Malley

(then mayor of Baltimore, now governor of

Maryland) established the CitiStat program

shortly after he took office in 1999.

This system requires agencies to gener-

ate data on key performance and human

resource indicators every two weeks for

review by the mayor’s staff. It reaches

beyond city-funded programs to state and

federal programs targeted to solving the

same social challenges, such as reducing the

number of children with elevated levels of

lead in their blood. By marshalling resources

against this problem, the city was able to

reduce blood lead levels in children by 46

percent in two years.

These kinds of results were replicated

in other program areas. Henderson con-

cludes that CitiStat is an effective strategic

planning tool and accountability device

for effectively delivering government ser-

vices to achieve priority social outcomes.

The CitiStat approach is being replicated

in large cities across the country, includ-

ing San Francisco and Chicago. Increas-

ingly, even smaller cities and some federal

agencies, such as the Bureau of Alcohol,

Tobacco and Firearms, are adopting this

approach.

Performance tools aren’t always the

solution. “How can the leaders of a public

agency improve its performance?” Harvard’s

Bob Behn asks in his assessment of the

eleven better practices for improving

performance. The “leadership question,”

he says, is not the question usually asked.

Usually we ask the “systems question.” He

observes that a performance system cannot

impose improvement – they must be led.

Complying with the requirements of

the latest performance management system

might help, but the future of good perfor-

mance lies in the hands of good leaders. His

advice on what the leaders should focus on,

such as “check for distortions and mission

accomplishment,” and “take advantage of

small wins to reward success,” can only be

led, not mandated.

3. Providing Competition, Choice and Incentives

Governments worldwide are now tak-

ing market-based approaches, such as

competition, choice, and incentives.

Jon Blondal, with the Organization for

Economic Development and Cooperation,

describes the use of outsourcing, public-

private partnerships, and vouchers in

thirty developed countries. He finds that

the emphasis varies by country and by

policy area, but that their use continues

to increase because the record of “the

efficiency gains is substantial.”

In the United States, the use of this

strategic approach has grown significantly

in the past decade and has been enveloped

in controversy, often based on ideology and

politics. The most politically prominent tool

of market-based government, competitive

sourcing, has been the dominant approach

used by the Bush administration. Under

competitive sourcing, an agency takes a

function currently delivered by government

employees and puts it up for bid between

these employees and the private sector,

where the best bid wins.

Dr. Jacques S. Gansler and William

Lucyshyn examine this tool, finding that

competition can achieve “better results

at lower costs, regardless of whether the

winner is the public or the private sector.”

Over ten years, 1,200 competitions in DoD

resulted in an average savings of 44 percent.

Of the 65,000 civilian employees affected,

only about 5 percent were involuntarily

separated. Despite the potential impact of

this tool to improve efficiency and reduce

costs with a minimal effect on employees,

its future is uncertain because of political

concerns, as well as legislative action,

about potentially adverse affects on the

federal workforce.

However, competitive sourcing is but

one of more than two dozen different

market-based tools – such as public-

private partnerships, vouchers, tradable

permits, bidding, bartering, and more

– that policymakers have at their disposal.

These tools can be grouped in three sets

of strategic approaches:

• Delivery of government services to the public via a range of market-based tools (with emphasis on public- and private-sector competition)

• Delivery of internal government services using market incentives

• Setting regulatory standards or pricing levels, rather than using command and control, as a way of influencing private-sector behavior.

How far should privatization go? Syracuse

University professor Alasdair Roberts offers

a new perspective on how government

is getting its work done via privatization.

He notes that, increasingly, government

services are not being delivered by a place-

based or program-based governmental

organization but rather through a national

or global network of boundary-spanning

for-profit or nonprofit organizations.

He cites examples of water, healthcare,

and correctional systems operated by

global companies and privately operated

cross-jurisdictional school systems. He

www.faama.orgmanaging the skiesSept/Oct2007 13

observes that this trend has the potential

for more efficient and effective services for

citizens because lessons and innovations

developed in one part of the world can be

quickly diffused within a company to a

location it operates in another part.

However, he also cautions that govern-

ments face new challenges in ensuring

democratic accountability in this new

environment. He describes examples of

how citizens, as consumers, have begun

to create new accountability mechanisms

that go beyond traditional government

approaches, such protests and boycotts. He

concludes that, until these accountability

issues can be addressed, this trend has

mixed implications for greater govern-

mental effectiveness.

No single market-based approach seems

to work in all circumstances. Choosing from

a range of tools can help public organiza-

tions more readily adapt these approaches

to solving their challenges in service delivery

and achieving regulation-based goals. These

approaches have broad applicability across

different government policy and program

areas – and work when managed properly.

4. Performing on Demand Governments are being pushed like never

before to measure and improve program

performance. In terms of responsiveness,

government organizations across the

world know they have to be much better

at sensing and responding to economic,

social, technological, or health change

or crisis – terrorism, Mad Cow disease,

severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS),

or processing drug benefit claims. Those

forces, coupled with new technical pos-

sibilities, are driving choices of program

design and operations, as well as their

underlying computing infrastructures.

These challenges require a deep and

potentially difficult transformation: mov-

ing from business as usual to performing

on demand. “On demand” means the

horizontal integration of processes and

infrastructure that enable day-to-day

interactions across an entire enterprise with

key partners, suppliers, and customers,

thus enabling government to respond with

speed and agility to demands and challenges.

On-demand government has four

characteristics:

• Responsiveness. Governments can react quickly to meet present or potential needs when legislative, organizational, or operational changes take place.

• Focus. As organizational processes are transformed and the roles of key players, including suppliers, are optimized, governments gain insight into the functions they should perform and those other institutions, public or private, should execute.

• Variability. Open, integrated technology infrastructures foster collaboration and the creation of services to meet evolving needs, where governments are able to deliver the right service, at the right place and time, to the right degree.

• Resilience. Governments can maintain their service levels no matter the impediment or threat. While technology always has supported governmental operations, it is the prime enabler of resilience in an on-demand environment.

In this context, government is increasingly

moving toward the use of on-demand

business models to solve operational and

business problems. For example, Professor

David Wyld examines how government

leaders increasingly are turning the burden

of managing and maintaining unneeded

property into a chance to derive revenue

and an opportunity to devote more of their

focus and attention to their primary mis-

sion and operations. From the local police

department to state governments to DoD,

public-sector executives are succeeding at

selling both everyday items and high-end

surplus goods at online auction, as well as

creating on-demand markets for unusual

public properties, such as school buildings

and airports.

In a separate study, Wyld focuses on the

potential of radio frequency identification

(RFID) systems – small, electronic tracking

devices more easily and quickly read than

bar codes – to make government more on

demand. For example, RFID systems allow

a faster flow of goods and better, quicker

access to the accompanying information

for use in decision making.

RFID also enables important increases

in the on-demand capacity of government,

including the delivery of military supplies

in the field. As described by Wyld, it offers

the potential for on-demand improvements

in many areas, including increased safety

for patients, faster movement of automo-

biles from manufacturer to dealer, and

greater security.

The on-demand concept is not limited

to the use of technology or computers; it

includes human resources. University of

Illinois researchers James Thompson and

Sharon Mastracci spotlight a number of

federal agencies that have had experience

with what they call “nonstandard work

arrangements,” such as part-time, seasonal,

and on-call jobs.

They examine the experiences of thirteen

federal agencies that rely upon the flexibility

of such on-demand work arrangements.

As the workflow fluctuates predictably (by

hour, week, month, or season) or unpre-

dictably (when the economy is in recession,

for example), workers in nonpermanent

jobs can be furloughed or let go.

5. Engaging Citizens Research shows that when citizens are

directly engaged with government, policy

and service-level decisions are seen as

more legitimate and are challenged less

frequently, and policy and program

initiatives have a greater success rate.

Actively engaging citizens also increases

trust in government.

Representative democracy has been

the traditional approach for how demo-

cratic government works. In the United

States, this occurs through Congress, state

legislatures, and city halls. In those forums,

informed and deliberative debates can

occur, resulting in collective decisions.

But in the past decade, directly engaging

citizens in informing and making decisions

has been the trend. Technology is creating a

new set of forums that allow this on a larger

scale. This technology extends from voting,

14 managing the skiesSept/Oct2007www.faama.org

the traditional forum for citizen participa-

tion, to new and innovative approaches,

such as the use of surveys, wikis, and blogs.

Citizen engagement experts Carolyn

Lukensmeyer and Lars Hasselblad Torres

describe the changing landscape of citizen

involvement in government worldwide.

They see a shift from the traditional

information exchange to an information

processing model of engagement, where

citizens are no longer just consumers of

government programs and policies but

actively engage in shaping them. They

offer a spectrum of citizen engagement

approaches, ranging from informing citizens

of planned efforts, all the way to empower-

ing citizens to directly make decisions.

For example, in Davenport, Iowa,

citizens participate in a five-step approach

to develop the city’s budget. This includes

participating in program evaluation,

budget development, and monitoring

and reporting on progress. The approach

includes the use of citizen surveys, focus

groups, and community forums to identify

issues and educate citizens on the city’s

financial status.

Lukensmeyer and Torres offer a series

of examples of how cutting-edge citizen

engagement models work, both in face-to-

face engagements and via online engage-

ments. They conclude their report with

recommendations to federal agency leaders

and government-wide policymakers for

the creation of “champions” to review

bureaucratic barriers to the use of these

tools and to serve as advocates for their

use in large-scale initiatives.

Elections expert Robert Done examines

the most traditional citizen engagement

tool: voting. Done assesses a pilot effort

in Arizona to allow both online registra-

tion and voting. Done describes some of

the technical and political challenges to

moving into this arena, but concludes that

this approach has broad implications for

increasing voter participation in the future.

Rutgers University professor Marc Holzer

and his colleagues examine the potential

for “digital” citizen participation beyond

the ballot box. His team concludes that a

range of new information and communi-

cation technologies “have the potential to

help make citizen participation an even

more dynamic element of the policy-

making process.”

Their study highlights three cases

where different models are used to engage

citizens, ranging from static information

dissemination to a dynamic model with

extensive interaction between government

and citizens. They outline several practical

steps for enhancing citizen involvement,

including clearly defining the issues to

be deliberated, providing background

materials in advance to participants, and

ensuring online facilitators are skilled in

moderation techniques.

As both citizen interest increases and

technology improves, the foundation

of “deliberative democracy” is growing.

This has the potential to shift citizen

involvement in public issues away from

the shrill, divisive tone that has domi-

nated the political scene over the past

decade to a more deliberative approach

characterized by Lukensmeyer and Torres

as when “participants come to a shared

understanding of underlying issues and

trade-offs.” As a result, better decisions

are made and the public is more satisfied

with the results, giving government and

the citizenry a basis for solving seemingly

intractable challenges, such as healthcare,

global warming, and social security.

6. Using Networks and Partnerships “Although public institutions are organized

in hierarchies, they increasingly face dif-

ficult, nonroutine problems that demand

networked solutions,” observes Don Kettl

in a study on the challenges facing gov-

ernment leaders in the twenty-first cen-

tury. The center has been closely watching

the evolution of the use of both networks

and partnerships as a new approach to

government work in diverse policy arenas.

This new approach is growing for two

primary reasons. First, citizens increas-

ingly expect government to deliver results

– clean air, safe food, healthy kids, and

safe streets. And second, the challenges the

country faces – and citizens expect to be

addressed – are far more complex than in

the past. The terrorist attacks of 9/11, the

SARS outbreak, Hurricane Katrina, and

the potential of a bird flu pandemic are

all examples of the increasing complexity

of nonroutine, yet large-scale, challenges

facing the country. These new challenges

are characterized by

• Reaching outside the boundaries of any one agency,

• Not being part of the traditional service-delivery system now in place in most agencies,

• Not playing by the same rules as traditional service-delivery systems.

networks The challenges of today’s complex society

are such that individual agencies and

programs cannot succeed in delivering

results on their own any longer. The

fundamental performance improvement

challenge facing government today is for

leaders to achieve results by launching

collaborative efforts that reach across

agencies, levels of government, and public,

nonprofit, and private sectors. A key tool

for doing so is the use of networks.

Kennedy School professor Elaine

Kamarck notes that these tools are becom-

ing more prominent, and public managers’

skills will have to change to manage these

partnerships, networks, and tools. Kamarck

notes, “As bureaucratic government has

failed in one policy area after another, policy

makers have looked to implement policy

through networks instead.”

One example is her proposal to create

frontline knowledge networks within the

intelligence community, lessons that can

be applied in other arenas as well. She

observes that a top-down view of organiza-

tional reform is one approach to improving

an organization’s effectiveness. However, a

bottom-up view is also important, since that

is where the work occurs. She advocates

“�Citizens�are�no�longer�just��consumers�of�government�pro-grams�and�policies�but�actively�engage�in�shaping�them.”

www.faama.orgmanaging the skiesSept/Oct2007 15

empowering frontline workers with the

tools to get their jobs done.

Collaborative network specialist Robert

Agranoff explains that operating in net-

works changes the nature of government

organizations and requires executives with

different managerial skills than in the past.

In a network, a government manager serves

as a convenor and acts as a participant, not

a leader. In some cases, the government

partner in a network may play a media-

tion role. Resources are more dispersed

and cannot be controlled centrally, and the

partners involved in pooling knowledge

and technologies – not government-owned

and operated programs – make network

operations work.

Agranoff also observes that government

is not a bystander in a network. It possesses

the legitimacy to deal with public problems

and policy solutions, retains the authority to

set rules and norms, contributes resources,

and retains and shares knowledge. As

a result, important networks cannot be

sustained without a governmental role.

communities of practice William Snyder and Xavier Briggs offer a

new tool for public managers called “com-

munities of practice.” This particular type

of network features peer-to-peer collabora-

tive activities that build members’ skills.

Used successfully in the private sector in

large companies, communities of prac-

tice are “social learning systems” where

practitioners informally “connect to solve

problems, share ideas, set standards, build

tools, and develop relationships with

peers and stakeholders.”

As informal networks, these communi-

ties complement an organization’s formal

units by reaching across organizational

boundaries. Because they are inherently

boundary-crossing entities, they are

particularly suited to large organizations

and federal systems.

University of Wisconsin professor

Donald Moynihan looks at a successful

federal, state, and local case study – a

battle against an outbreak of Exotic

Newcastle Disease, which is lethal to

chickens but not humans. He describes

how various agencies came together to

deal with the first outbreak in thirty years.

They used the Incident Command System,

an approach used by the Forest Service

to fight forest fires, to create a resilient

network.

Moynihan notes that success depended

upon the existence of a network of relation-

ships that had been developed long before

the outbreak, which occurred and spread

unpredictably. He says that the way to foster

and build these pre-incident relationships

is through the use of frequent exercises that

build, test, and reinforce them.

Interpersonal networks, organizational

partnerships, and performance manage-

ment can be used as effective strategies for

providing public managers with greater

leverage to achieve national goals. But, as

Moynihan notes, the critical element is

having the right kind of people involved

in the network rather than relying on

traditional policy management approaches

that depend on institutional arrangements,

legislation, or the budget process. Devel-

oping networks and partnerships will be

the challenge of national leaders, whose

policy successes increasingly depend on

the power of collaboration in areas as

diverse as homeland security, job training,

and reducing poverty.

looking ahead We have learned much during the

center’s first eight years, and we plan to

continue doing so in the years ahead.

Exciting change is happening throughout

government, and we want to document

and share that knowledge so others can

continue to be inspired by and learn from

these experiences.

The imperatives and strategies

described in this article are making a dif-

ference in government today. But improv-

ing government management remains a

complex and difficult assignment – both

technically and politically. Management is

no longer seen as a centralized, one-size-

fits-all, uniform undertaking. Because the

world has changed, it cannot be effective if

it tries to repeat the successes of the past.

In a summer 2005 forum on the tough-

est challenges facing government in the

years ahead, participants identified three

challenges:

• Using networks to organize for, and respond to, routine and nonroutine problems. Although public institutions are organized in hierarchies, they increasingly face difficult, nonroutine problems. Government is likely to continue to be organized hierarchically. How can it resolve these tensions?

• Developing a way to govern though a network of networks. As agency leaders find new ways to leverage action through the use of networks, how can they shape the behavior of those at the edge of the service system – inside and outside government – to effectively solve problems?

• Engaging citizens in new roles to solve public problems. As government actions become more complex, citizens must take on new roles. New technologies such as e-government and podcasts have arisen that allow direct participation and immediate action. What role can citizens play in solving society’s problems?

Although the solutions are not obvious,

knowing where to look is an important

start. It is the aspiration of the IBM Center

for The Business of Government to continue

to serve as a major resource for government

executives by providing them with cutting-

edge knowledge on the transformation of

government around the globe. ❙

Mark A. Abramson is�executive�director�of�the�IBM�Center�for�The�Business�of�Government.�His�e-mail�address�is�mark.abramson@us.ibm.com.

Jonathan D.Breul�is�a�senior�fellow,�the�IBM�Center�for�The�Business�of�Government,�and�partner,�IBM�Global�Business�Services.�His�e-mail�address�is�jonathan.d.breul@us.ibm.com.

John M. Kamensky�is�a�senior�fellow,�the�IBM�Center�for�The�Business�of�Government,�and�associate�partner,�IBM�Global�Business�Services.�His�e-mail�address�is�john.kamensky@us.ibm.com.

Theoriginalversionofthisarticle,publishedinThe�Public�Manager,Spring2007,citesreferencestoonumeroustoincludeintheprintedition:pleaseseewww.publicmanager.orgforthecompleteoriginalarticlecontainingallreferences.

16 managing the skiesSept/Oct2007www.faama.org

When Inspiration, the Columbia 400 aircraft piloted by twenty-three-year-old Barrington Irving, landed at an airport not far from

downtown Miami, the young pilot became

the first person of African descent and the

youngest person ever to fly solo around

the world. His flight took ninety-seven

days and covered approximately 26,800

miles and resulted in a flurry of news cov-

erage around the country and the world.

Inspiration is One of the World’s Fastest Single-Engine Piston AirplanesThe aircraft has a story of its own: It was

donated part by part, piece by piece, and

then assembled by Columbia Aircraft. The

result is one of the world’s fastest single-

engine piston airplanes. Inspiration also

was modified with extended fuel tanks a

few weeks before the global flight.

Barrington’s idea was not only to chal-

lenge himself as he faced endurance and

risk and a tremendous adventure, but also

to bring national and worldwide attention

to his efforts to inspire inner-city and

minority youth to follow his example. The

global extent of his inspiration is impres-

sive when you consider that more than

100,000 students and others tracked the

flight. His journey took him across four

continents to countries including the

Azores, Rome, Egypt, India, Thailand,

Hong Kong and Japan.

A United Airlines Captain Inspired the DreamThe dream was born at age 15 when

Barrington Irving met Gary Robinson, an

airline captain who came into the book-

store run by the young man’s parents.

Captain Robinson took the time to speak

with Barrington and invited him to the

airport the next day to explore the cockpit

of the Boeing 777 jet he flew for United

Airlines. Young Barrington was hooked!

He started spending afternoons and

weekends at the airport washing planes in

exchange for half-hour flights or for money

that he would use for flying lessons. Now

focused on becoming a pilot, Barrington

turned down a college football scholarship

and enrolled in a community college where

his tuition was partially covered by a state

scholarship fund based on his good grades

in high school.

Barrington spent every free moment

thinking about aviation, doing odd jobs

to pay for flight lessons and speaking to

church, school and community groups

such as “5000 Role Models” about career

opportunities in the aviation field. Before

long, his volunteer efforts were noticed

by community leaders in Miami, who

awarded him a joint Air Force/Florida

Memorial University Awareness Scholar-

ship that would cover college tuition and

flying lessons. Over the next few years,

Barrington earned his Private, Commercial

Pilot and Flight Instructor licenses as well

as his Instrument Rating.

Experience Aviation Was Founded in 2005In 2005, the young pilot founded a non-

profit organization, Experience Aviation,

Inc., to address the significant shortage

of youth pursuing careers in aviation and

aerospace. Supported by a $10,000 grant

from Miami Dade Empowerment Trust, he

offered information and guidance programs

to young people in South Florida that

included touring planes at the airport and

learning how to use a flight simulator.

Experience Aviation’s mission is to raise

awareness, motivate and assist economically

deprived students with career opportunities

�Breaking Records, Creating OpportunitiesByBobHildebidle,FrontLineManager,MiamiTower,FAA,andSouthernRegionDirector,FAAMA

Q PHOTOS:LefttoRight–DarrellRoberts,ManagerTechnicalOperations,MiamiTower;BarringtonIrving;andBobHildebidle,FrontLineManager,MiamiTower.InspirationLandinginFlorida,afterflyingaroundtheworld;CaptainGaryRobinsonandBarringtonIrving.

www.faama.orgmanaging the skiesSept/Oct2007 17

in the fields of aviation and aerospace

technologies. Given the success of

the program, the Empowerment Trust

increased its commitment to $75,000 to

reach more community youth.

In 2006, the Experience Aviation Learning Center OpenedBarrington used those funds to set up the

first Experience Aviation Learning Center,

using donated computers and Microsoft

Flight Simulator software at Miami’s

Opa-Locka Airport. Since November of

2006, the Experience Aviation Learning

Center has provided educational experi-

ences for middle and high school students

including hands-on training on flight

simulator programs.

Learning Center activities are designed

to give students experience in various

fields including flying, air traffic control,

aerospace technology and aviation mainte-

nance. The Learning Center also serves as

a resource hub for students by connecting

them with various professional aviation

businesses and general aviation and educa-

tional institutions in the community. Mak-

ing these resources and networks available

to students helps them identify and pursue

their career goals.

Career Days Help Students Clarify GoalsA typical Career Day Experience offered

at the Center gives twenty students the

opportunity to complete tailored academic

activities, visit a selected aviation site and

attend a briefing by aviation professionals.

In the Center, students engage in activities

designed to build on their math, science

and reading skills.

They learn to fly on the Microsoft Flight

Simulator in the aircraft Barrington flew

around the world in and they conduct aero-

dynamic, navigational, robotic/engineering

and career placement exercises for a total

of two-and-a-half hours. Then, they leave

the Center for one to two hours to visit a

local private aviation business, government

aviation operation or educational institution.

This daylong experience introduces

students to the many careers in aviation,

provides valuable information on how

they can learn more about particular jobs

in the field and emphasizes the importance

of pursuing higher education.

Aviation Career Days are Tailored to Education LevelBoth middle and high school students

cover the same core subjects, but high

school students receive a greater degree

of career guidance. Sixth through eighth

grade students focus on planning their

future while the ninth through twelfth

grade students are provided with resources,

educational information and professional

guidance to build a career portfolio. The

Center also is developing after-school and

summer school programs and is planning

to host a Career Fair in 2008.

Currently, the aerospace sector of the

US economy generates activity equal to

nearly 15 percent of the nation’s gross

domestic product and supports approxi-

mately eleven million American jobs. As

baby boomers continue to retire, it will

become increasingly difficult to replace

them with industry-ready employees

– particularly in aviation careers.

The time to begin developing the

aviation industry professionals of the future

is now, and an organization like Experience

Aviation is critical to that end. Those who

are inspired by Barrington Irving and his

passion to reach young people so they too

may have a chance to better their lives

will be the aviation professionals and

managers of tomorrow.

Barrington Irving is a Role Model for all GenerationsBarrington Irving is an inspiring role model

for children and adults alike. Although he

started his aviation career with few financial

resources, he has continued to pursue

his goals with the self-confidence of an

entrepreneur who sees no limits to what

he and others can achieve.

Having replaced the city streets where

he grew up for a bright future in the

sky, he hopes his record-breaking flight

around the world combined with the

Experience Aviation Learning Center will

encourage other young people to leave

their fears behind and reach for the stars!

FAAMAChapter374ofSouthFloridaisproudtodonateone-thousanddollarstotheExperienceAviationEducationCenterinsupportofBarringtonIrving’sdreamandwork.

Q PHOTOS:BarringtonIrvingcelebratesarecord-settingflightandsuccessfulreturntoFlorida.

18 managing the skiesSept/Oct2007www.faama.org

An Interview with Barrington IrvingShortly after completing his record-setting

flight, Barrington Irving sat down at his

Opa-Locka Airport based Experience

Aviation Learning Center for an interview

conducted by FAAMA Chapter 374 mem-

bers Darrell Roberts and Bob Hildebidle.

What motivates you?

There’s a sense of hopelessness in many

inner city areas and a lot of kids are getting

into the wrong kinds of things by being

exposed to negative influences. I want to

show them that they can do more with their

lives than resort to violence and crime. I’d

like to introduce them to aviation, a world

that most kids don’t even know about.

I remember how it felt when Capt. Gary

Robinson took the time to pay attention to

me and showed me something I never even

knew existed and I’d like to make the same

kind of difference in young children who

otherwise may not have the opportunity.

I also know that at my age I am still able

to relate to the younger kids and they can

relate to me.

Can you share one of your most difficult moments during your trip and how that experience helped you later?

It definitely was the North Atlantic crossing

when I was flying from St. John’s, New-

foundland to Santa Maria in the Azores,

about a nine-hour leg. I began to think

too much about everything that had gone

on to that point, all of the prep work by

me and my support team, how far we had

come in the past three months.

I was mentally dehydrated and physically

fatigued and it all caught up to me while I

was into the last half of this leg. I wondered

what it must have been like for Lindbergh

during his flight across the Atlantic. When

I got on the ground at Santa Maria, I

wondered what in God’s name had I gotten

myself into. The North Pacific crossing was

difficult also, but I think having crossed

the Atlantic, I knew that I’d be all right.

Of all of the accomplishments you have achieved, which gives you the most satisfaction and why?

It’s knowing that all the tremendous

sacrifice that has been made in time, effort,

and hard work is serving the greater pur-

pose for which I have been called. I have

been through some tough times in my life

but in the end, I know that things are in

God’s hands. I’ve learned that if you step out

on your own with the help of great people,

there is no limit on what you can do.

What concerns you the most about your work?

The scariest thing for me is knowing that

it gets more difficult now that the flight

around the world is finished. Another

constant challenge is trying to develop staff

locally, regionally, and nationally as well

as internationally. A big part of what we

are trying to do here is link students to the

many aviation related industries out there.

This includes the FAA, airlines, military,

Coast Guard, and airports, to name a few.

These are “Skyways” in the industry, not

just contacts. I want these kids to see what

it’s like in person with visits to these sites;

I’d also like these industries to make them-

selves available to us so our students will be

able to meet someone who inspires them

– much like Captain Robinson inspired me.

Where do you see yourself in the next five years?

I hope to write a book, do some work on

television, maybe do a movie, speak to

groups, almost anything that can help me

raise money for Experience Aviation or that

will encourage other aviation industries to

get involved. I’d also like to develop a hub

for aviation learning that puts students in

direct contact with resources on a bigger

scale than we have right now.

Your Experience Aviation Learning Center exposes youngsters to careers in aviation. What are some success stories that come from this exposure?

I receive a lot of e-mail from students

who have been through the Center and

write to tell me they are inspired by the

experience. (Barrington shows us a folder

full of e-mails from students and parents

alike who enjoyed their time at the Center

and are planning to return for more.)

About how many students have been involved in the Center?

Approximately 200 so far, with requests

for more coming in each day.

Not all of us can take the time to fly around the world. What advice do you have for some-one who wants to make a difference and get involved, but does not know where to begin?

Use what you have and look for resources

like books, the library and people to help

provide you the support that we all need

to be successful. You have a lot more than

you think you have! If you have the vision

and the passion and you dedicate yourself

to make a commitment, then nobody can

stand in your way.

How can people help?

We are in constant need of donations and

volunteers (www.experienceaviation.org).

The Center, as you can see, is starting to

come together, but we have a long way to go.

Fundraisers in Houston, Denver and Seattle

have been successful and I try to make as

many speaking engagements as I can.

Organizational interaction is beginning

to increase where association groups like

the National Black Coalition have been

able to donate funds and recruit volunteers

to help in our outreach efforts. Just getting

the word out about what we are trying to

accomplish here helps.

It’s funny – I was able to fly around

the world alone in my airplane, with a

great support team on the ground, but I

need help with everything else! Sometimes

it’s just a matter of getting people involved

and the ripple effect that involvement has

on other people, much like dropping a

rock into water. These students need to

know how and where they can get the

necessary training and more importantly,

they need to believe that they have the

potential to succeed. ❙

www.faama.orgmanaging the skiesSept/Oct2007 19

Excerpts from an August 12, 2007 article by Patricia Mazzei in the MiamiHerald.

Black Pilot to Kids: Believe in Dreamsthe miami gardens pilot who became the youngest and first black person to travel solo around the world told kids to never give up on your goals.

Listentoadults.Followyourheart.Bepreparedtoworkhard–andkeepyourgradesup.

That’swhatBarringtonIrvingJr.,theyoungestandfirstblackpersontoflysoloaroundtheworld,toldmorethan100people,mostlychil-dren,whopackedtheFloridaCityHallchambersFridayafternoon.

‘’Itdoesn’tmatterwhereyoucomefrom,’’saidIrving,cladinabeigepilotsuit.‘’Theonlythingthatmattersisthatyouhaveagoalinlifeandyougoafteritwitheverythingyou’vegot.’’

…Irvingtalkedabouttheplaceshevisitedonhis26,800-miletrip,whichwassupposedtolastabout40daysbuttookmorethantwicethatbecausehefacedsnow,sandstormsandmonsoons.Amonghisstops:Italy,Egypt,IndiaandJapan.

ButIrving’sprimaryfocuswasontheyearsleadinguptotheflight–howhewentthroughmanyrejectionlettersbeforefindingsponsorstodonatemorethan$1millionforeverythingfromplanepartstofueltohotelstays.Heusedhisstorytomotivatethekidstopursuetheirgoals,eveniftheyseemedfar-fetched…

Excerpts from the July/August 2007 issue of Aero:APublicationoftheNationalAeronauticAssociation.

Irving Completes Around the World Flight, Claims 11 Records

BarringtonIrvinghascompletedhis“ExperienceAviationWorldFlightAdventure,”anaround-the-worldflightinwhichthe23-year-oldJamaican-Americanpilotattemptednumerousspeedrecordsforindividuallegsofhisjourney.TheNationalAeronauticAssociationiscurrentlyintheprocessofcertifying11ofIrving’srecordclaimsandcongratulateshimonthecompletionofhisadventure.

“Asoloflightofthisnatureisimpressiveatanyage,”saidArtGreenfield,NAADirectorofContestandRecords.“ThelonglistofrecordsthatBarringtonIrvingsetwilltrulyserveasaninspiration–ifnotadirectchallenge–tootherpeopletofollowinhisfoot-steps.Andthat,Ibelieve,washisplanallalong….”

Flyinginasingle-engineColumbia400named“Inspiration,”Irvingclaimed11recordsonhisjourney.ThefollowingrecordsarependingcertificationbyNAA:

3/24/2007 Miami,FLtoCleveland,OH 183mph

3/30/2007 Farmingdale,NYtoSt.John’s,Canada 177mph

4/16/2007 Rome,ItalytoAthens,Greece 170mph

5/24/2007 HongKong,ChinatoTaipei,Taiwan 163mph

5/24/2007 Taipei,TaiwantoNagoya,Japan 199mph

6/18/2007 Shemya,AKtoAnchorage,AK 197mph

6/19/2007 Anchorage,AKtoJuneau,AK 184mph

6/20/2007 Juneau,AKtoSeattle,WA 189mph

6/21/2007 Seattle,WAtoDenver,CO 207mph

6/23/2007 Denver,COtoHouston,TX 197mph

6/26/2007 Houston,TXtoMobile,AL 208mph

Excerpts from an August 13, 2007 article by Bill Hensel Jr. in the HoustonC