As Americans, reforming government is our birthright. The first and most successful reform effort occurred in Philadelphia in 1787 when a bunch of the founding fathers scrapped the Articles of Confederation and wrote the United States Constitution. Over the last century, Presidents have launched reform efforts fourteen times with – at best – mixed success. 

So, with a new President in the Oval Office, it must be time for a new government reform initiative. Jeffrey Zients , a management consultant, has been tapped to reshape and reform government and eliminate waste. His new position will be Chief Performance Officer (CPO), although he will also wear the hat of Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

And so it begins. In the last half century plus we’ve had two Hoover Commissions (Truman and Eisenhower), the Grace Commission (Reagan), Reinventing Government (Clinton), and the President’s Management Agenda (George W. Bush) – all pursuing government reform. Interestingly, the Obama and Bush reform initiatives were led by people in the same position at OMB. That may be a good start, building on previous efforts is better than reinventing the wheel.

However, as happy as we are to see any effort to cut waste, the President’s announcement that he is charging the cabinet agencies with coming up with $100 million in cuts over the next 90 days, was underwhelming.   It made us think of Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers movies, ransoming the world for one million dollars .   Don’t get us wrong, we don’t want even a penny wasted – but $100 million is less than a drop in the $3.7 trillion federal budget bucket – it’s more like a molecule.  We have to think bigger.

So it’s time to reboot the reform effort. Designating a high profile point person to lead the effort is a good launching off point. But the real test will be how much authority and backing the President gives the new CPO. If Zients is viewed across government as having the full authority of the White House and is visibly backed early in the inevitable bureaucratic turf battles he stands a chance of making some difference.

Another key to his success will be building on the report card rating system devised by the previous administration. There were plenty of flaws in the Program Assessment Rating Tool , but the idea of scoring a variety of programs on how well they deliver results and improving and retooling the rating system, is a much better approach than scrapping it and starting at square one.

Finally, the CPO has to follow the Willie Sutton rule. Sutton was asked why he robbed banks. The old bank robber replied – because that’s where they keep the money. Well, to eliminate waste, you are going to get a bigger bang for your buck by looking at Defense, Agriculture, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services. And you have to think big – is our government organized logically and properly? Are there agencies that have outlived their useful life, or merely serve as corporate welfare? Do certain systems and programs actually promote waste?

A lot of ink has been spilled over many years documenting the various areas ripe for government reform – the Government Accountability Office, Congressional Budget Office, think tanks, and not to be too boastful, quite a bit from the hardworking folks at TCS. So it would be in the CPO's interest to pick some of these oldie but goodie ideas, build off the work of previous administrations, and dive in with some new ideas. With a yawning budget deficit and debt piled to the moon, we need to get a grip fast.