-: The public sector prizes stability
and deliberation by design.
Notions of fairness, equity, and careful consensus tend
to guide decision-making.
However, in these times, careful consensus falls short.
Today, the public sector needs to be resilient.
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A resilient organization must be adaptive
to changing circumstances.
Take for example, the government's preparedness for 2020
and a massive health care crisis.
For years, the federal government stockpiled
medical equipment and PPE,
but the stockpile ebbed and flowed
as the political and health environment changed.
The national stockpile is designed to ensure
that supplies needed are available
in a fast-moving pandemic.
However, when it came time to put these resources to use,
our level of preparedness and the adaptiveness
of our distribution systems were found lacking.
As the recent pandemic took hold,
the systems that could quickly gather data
and pivot with new information
were able to thrive during the pandemic.
Companies, for example General Motors, switched production
to deliver over one million face masks,
66,000 face shields, and over 600 ventilators.
Then GM shifted back to car production
and they delivered exceptional results.
A great example of adaptiveness.
In contrast, other supply chains,
particularly offshore supply chains, were unable to flex.
A resilient government must be ready for tough times.
It must have the necessary redundancy
and the leverage to flex it.
It must have the capacity to sense, to learn,
and to adapt to change.
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