Government transformation through change management.

• Position: News & Numbers

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) recently released a white paper, Transforming Government through Change Management: The Role of the State CIO, emphasizing that change is an ongoing process. The white paper reviews contemporary ideas surrounding the subject of organizational transformation and provides the state CIO with relevant recommendations and calls to action.

Summary of Calls to Action for State CIOs

1. Develop knowledge and skills in organizational transformation and change management in both self and staff. Maintain an enterprise perspective. Work toward a change competent organization.

2. Establish a process for managing transformation in incremental steps. Leverage program and project management discipline in planning and implementing change initiatives.

3. Establish collaborative relationships. Internal relationships must include the director of human resources that will enable the ongoing development of associates. The importance of specific stakeholder relationships will change over time based on challenges, budget and legislative cycles, advent of innovation, etc. External relationships must include relevant expertise centers.

4. Emphasize leadership knowledge, skills, and behavior in self and associates.

5. Create a "learning organization" that is continually adapting, learning from mistakes. Approach unforeseen events and even missteps like a high reliability organization--always seeing the...