This new eight-step process has resulted in savings of 20 percent in processing costs and has cut waiting time for a veteran who wants to see a claims counselor from 30 minutes to three minutes. Second, in the old way, federal executives were expected to keep staff working within organizational boundaries. In the new way, federal executives will need to help staff cross boundaries to work effectively with other organizations. This can no longer be seen as the path to success. As organizational theorists Gifford and Elizabeth Pinchot have observed, teamwork is now the hallmark of success.
Bureaucracy keeps teams isolated, focused on their task from above.
In intelligent organizations, teams and their members must reach out through voluntary collaboration to create a more integrated organization. This Administration is committed to doing just that. For example, the fiscal year 1995 budget creates a government wide approach to job training, a cross- agency attack on homelessness, and an innovative approach to ecosystem management. In the old way, federal executives were expected to circumscribe discretion with rules because employees could not be trusted. In the new way, federal executives must empower their employees to achieve the goals of the organization, within statutory constraints and the agreed upon vision of the organization.