The Arizona Management System (AMS) is an intentional, results-driven approach for doing the work of state government so that every employee, at every level, with discipline, reflects daily on how they did, finds the waste, and decides how to do better going forward with sustainable progress....
Office of the Arizona Governor Doug Ducey
AMS in Focus
AMS In Focus is a bi-weekly newsletter, intended primarily for Arizona state employees, that explains what the Arizona Management System is, how it is being implemented, and why it is needed to streamline and modernize Arizona government. Most recent articles appear at the top of the page.
Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company and a pioneer of integrating principles of continuous improvement into his business operations, understood the power of discontent. He once said, “Our own attitude is that we are charged with the discovering the best way of doing everything and...
Since late May, editions of AMS In Focus have addressed what we as state employees produce (our “widgets”), who we make our products for (our customers), and why we do it (our vital mission outcomes.) Let’s now shift attention to how the work gets done in our agencies – our processes – using the...
Agencies are finalizing strategic plans that will be submitted to the Governor by September 1. The annual planning process is always a vital exercise for determining agencies’ priority goals and objectives and setting course for what staff will work on in the months ahead.
With...
As public servants, state employees sometimes think of the “public” as the customer but in fact that is not usually the case because they don’t directly use our products or services. A better way to view the public is to see them as investors, i.e., taxpayers who demand a reasonable return on...
The Arizona Management System (AMS) is based in part on principles of Lean management. Fundamental to understanding Lean is knowing who our customer is.
If we’re not careful about correctly defining who the customer is, we can accidentally design waste into our processes...
As previously discussed, choosing metrics that matter is critical to the successful deployment of the Arizona Management System (see https://ams.az.gov/about/ams-focus for details.) It is important to recognize that as Arizona state employees, we...
Choosing measures that matter should be important to us as state employees because the Arizona Management System is how we approach our work today and visual performance management is fundamental to AMS. As employees who work in a smaller, more cost-conscious government, we need AMS for the...
When it comes to choosing metrics that matter, a good place to start is by thinking carefully about:
- What do we make? (our widget)
- How do we make it? (our process)
- Who do we make it for? (our customer/enduser)
- Why do we make it? (our desired...
Visual performance management is one of three core components of the Arizona Management System (the others are problem solving and leader standard behaviors.) Good visual management allows us to:
• Quickly communicate standards and status so teams and management in near real time...
What exactly is a “management system,” and how does the Arizona Management System differ from all the ones that have come before it? The concept of a management system probably originated with cave men, once they figured out they needed to work together in order to survive. As the size of the...
As agencies proceed in rolling out the Arizona Management System, don’t be surprised if you hear occasional objections like this:
“That Lean stuff may work in industry, but we’re government, not some factory that churns out cars or computers. We’re here to make a difference in people’s...
Every organization has a culture, and it exists whether we want it to or not. Culture is the shared beliefs, values and practices that both define and distinguish an organization. Unplanned and left to evolve freely over time, organizational culture can become an odd mix of both good and bad...
Because every state agency has a vital mission, it’s our responsibility as state employees to continuously improve our ability to deliver mission outcomes for the citizens we serve. We maximize this long-term mission benefit for Arizona by delivering value to customers, and by engaging employees...
As an Arizona state employee, how engaged are you in achieving your agency’s mission? It’s an important question to ask ourselves as we are deploying the Arizona Management System, and it’s also timely because the annual statewide Employee Engagement Survey is coming soon.
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Every Arizona state agency has a vital mission that gives urgency, direction and purpose to all that we do as state employees. Because our missions are vital and continue to expand with each passing year, we have a responsibility to get faster and better at doing the vital mission work that...
