Cris Johnston describes his role as Director of the Government Efficiency and Financial Planning Unit in the Office of Management and Budget in Indiana. Johnston’s agency was responsible for a government probe that investigated the effectiveness of over 400 state programs within eighteen months. His team adopted an eighteen-question template created by Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels that asked questions about a program’s purpose, its management, its budget, whether or not it was duplicative of other state efforts, and if it had produced viable results. The unit also established metrics for measuring performance within the different state agencies. Out of the probe’s 200 recommendations, agencies have implemented roughly half.  Furthermore, when Indiana had to enact budget cuts, the unit’s findings were crucial in making agency heads aware of which programs had the most impact and where they should focus their time and money.   Johnston emphasizes that the goal is not to create the best performance measurement system, but to begin implementing changes in state government that will build momentum. 

 

Case Study:  A New Approach to Managing at the Center of Government: Governor Mitch Daniels and Indiana, 2005-2012