Coming soon · Book Profile
Creating Public Value Strategic Management in Government
Public managers should act as strategists, not just administrators, by actively managing their political and operational environments to discover, define, and create public value.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
This book challenges the traditional view of public managers as passive implementers of political mandates. Instead, Mark Moore presents a powerful framework for 'strategic management in government,' arguing that the primary goal of a public manager is to create 'public value.' He introduces the 'strategic triangle' as a guide for managers to align their organization's mission with three critical elements: what is substantively valuable, what is politically legitimate and sustainable, and what is operationally feasible. Through compelling case studies of leaders at all levels of government, the book provides diagnostic tools and practical techniques for managing 'upward' into the complex political environment to build support, and 'downward' into the organization to reengineer operations and foster innovation. For any public servant who feels constrained by bureaucracy and politics, this book offers an inspiring yet pragmatic path to becoming an effective, value-creating leader.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- A public manager, from a local librarian to a federal agency head, who is driven to make a real, positive impact and create lasting value for the public they serve.
- The problem
- Public managers are often trapped by rigid bureaucracies, unclear or conflicting political mandates, and a lack of clear metrics for success, which prevents them from innovating or effectively responding to public needs. They feel frustrated, constrained, and uncertain about their proper role, questioning whether they are just administrators or if they have the agency to truly lead and make a difference.
- The plan
- Reframe your purpose: Shift your focus from simply administering programs to actively creating public value.
- Develop a clear strategy: Use the 'Strategic Triangle' to align your mission with what is substantively valuable, politically legitimate, and operationally feasible.
- Master strategic management: Learn the techniques of managing 'upward' (political management) to build support and 'downward' (operational management) to reengineer your organization for results.
- The payoff
- Your organization becomes more responsive, innovative, and effective, delivering demonstrable value to the public. · You become a respected public leader, capable of navigating political complexity and inspiring your team to achieve significant results. · You gain a renewed sense of purpose and the confidence to lead your enterprise toward a more valuable future.
See our guide
Additional reading
- Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It · James Q. Wilson
Provides a deep positive theory of why public organizations behave as they do, which serves as a crucial backdrop for this book's normative theory of what managers *should* do.
- Presidential Power · Richard E. Neustadt
The classic work on how executives in government must persuade and bargain to achieve their goals, underpinning this book's emphasis on political management and managing beyond formal authority.
- Leadership in Administration · Philip Selznick
A foundational text on the role of leadership in defining an organization's mission and infusing it with value, influencing this book's concept of the manager as a strategist and value-definer.
- The Power of Public Ideas · Robert B. Reich (ed.)
Explores how public deliberation and the framing of ideas shape policy, which is central to this book's treatment of defining public value and the techniques of political leadership.
- Leading Change · John Kotter
The book's concept of the 'guiding coalition' is drawn directly from Kotter and is presented as a crucial organizational tool for driving delivery.
- The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam · Barbara Tuchman
Tuchman's analysis of governmental 'folly' is used to frame the importance of data, deliberation, and challenging assumptions to avoid catastrophic policy failures, a key aspect of problem-solving in delivery.
- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t · Jim Collins
Collins's analysis of leadership and strategy in business is adapted by the author to create the 'Performance Wedge' model (Awful, Adequate, Good, Great) for public services.
- The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right · Atul Gawande
Gawande's argument for the importance of diligence and checklists to ensure professional reliability is cited to support the book's emphasis on routines and systematic processes.
- Federalist Paper number 51 · James Madison
The author explicitly states that readers who want to get immediately to the 'bottom line' of why his reform suggestions are unlikely to be heeded should read this paper, as the constitutional regime is the ultimate constraint.
- The Functions of the Executive · Chester Barnard
Cited for its foundational definition of an organization and its emphasis on the 'moral element' and inculcating loyalty, a precursor to the book's concept of organizational culture and mission.