PMA Update: November, 2006

Congratulations to the State Department for becoming the second agency to achieve “green” status for each of the five PMA initiatives.  State Under Secretary Henrietta Fore will tell you it’s not easy being green, especially all green, but if it is a priority for the Secretary, the goals are clear, and the career employees are fully engaged, anything is possible.

In a meeting with his Management Council last month, President Bush told the Chief Operating Officers of the major agencies, who comprise the Management Council, that he was very impressed with their move from red to yellow to green over the past five years.  He challenged them, though, to make sure all their new management skills and disciplines translated, in fact, to every part of their agencies becoming more effective.  The goal is to leave this place better than we found it, and so much so that the performance improvements will be irreversible. 

The Management Council got the message and committed to report back to him in the fall of 2008 how each of them had significantly, quantifiably improved the effectiveness of their agencies.     

Clay Johnson
Deputy Director of OMB for Management