Mr. Obama Goes to Washington

President-elect Barack Obama is scheduled today to name Nancy Killefer Chief Performance Officer.

Killefer is a senior director of McKinsey and Company, a management consulting firm and was formerly the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during the Clinton Administration.

Obama promised to name a Chief Performance Officer (CPO) in his performance plan which he released last fall. The CPO will report directly to the president and will also be responsible for leading a White House “SWAT Team” composed of top-performing and highly-trained government professionals to set tough performance targets and hold managers responsible for progress.

Throughout his campaign, Obama emphasized that he will not just measure progress, but actually enforce standards. Much like Jefferson Smith in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” within a week of moving to the District, Obama quickly began to prepare the first bill he would like to see passed in Congress: the economic stimulus plan. The plan, which is expected to cost at least $775 billion, is intended to boost America’s troubled economy, the Associated Press reports. Not only will this plan help turn the economy around, but Obama also promises it will set a “new higher standard of accountability, transparency and oversight.”

With the naming of Killefer CPO, his selection of Peter Orszag as the director of the Office of Management and Budget and his quick preparation of the economic stimulus plan, it is clear that Obama is serious about his mission to improve government performance.

Posted in Performance Wire