Whomever first coined the term "The Butterfly Effect" never worked for the government. Small changes don't really lead to big changes as changes never happen in the first place. Bureaucratic inertia pretty much brings any real change to a grinding halt. It's unfortunate as see, from within the beast, a great capacity to do bigger and better things. Every change requires a committee, every committee wants a study, every study needs another committee to figure out how to study whatever it is they are supposed to be studying in the first place. It's maddening.
But let's assume you manage to get something changed. A few months ago I proposed a switch to a digital file search system (our files "searches" are really matching seekers to jobs in a database. As a job comes into the office we search the files to find matches) in an effort to reduce paper usage and save on time. In the past people would have to print copies of files needing searching and deliver them to various people around the office. I proposed saving these as a .pdf file in a central location and the people responsible for searching the files would be able to access them. It was a small change and it actually wasn't too hard to implement. The managers are supportive of internal changes that make the office more efficient. However, that's where it stopped. Our office saves money on paper and time but the change never trickled anywhere else. Even internally, there were not many ripples from this change. Entrenched thinking is difficult to change.
I think that each system is unique even though they are built upon the same rules that govern any complex system. Some systems are more resistant to change than others. In these cases, smaller changes see their effects diluted as more and more layers of resistance are piled on top of one another. I think this is incredibly dangerous as change is the only way to survive in any environment. This isn't to say that governmental agencies do not provide a good service. I think that what the people in my office accomplish is amazing. However, things aren't always done efficiently or with the best practices available. I have seen some new thinking in a few agencies with whom I partner and I believe that change is happening. However the old guard still clings to out dated processes because I believe they feel if those processes change than they themselves will become outdated.
This need not be the case, people must be open to change; be open to the unconventional! This may mean taking some risks but that's OK! We learn from our failures, if we are smart, much more than we do our successes. Success after success can breed hubris, failure should foster introspection and systems analysis. When the people become more accepting of change I think that we will see more of the Butterfly Effect in agencies where change is an abstract concept rather than a reality.
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