Why an Ottawa City Hall Re-org Will Achieve Little

Organizations driven by a "yessir" culture are doomed to underperform

If you’ve been around bureaucracies long enough, you’ve probably heard re-organizations described as “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic”.

It certainly felt that way with Ottawa City Hall last week.

Ottawa City Hall is moving its three top priority files — economic development, housing and climate — under a single Strategic Initiatives department.

The City statement notes the rationale for the new department is to “bring together expertise in key areas with single points of accountability to deliver on Council’s highest priorities” and be “responsible for leading the City’s strategic planning process”.

What are they trying to fix?

City Hall is losing a large number of senior managers, and is having a hard time replacing them. But that’s hardly a reason to reorganize the bureaucracy. You can always promote the second-in-command, even on temporary basis.

Rather, I believe City Hall has woken up to the fact that the federal and provincial governments are throwing a lot of money at cities — and the City of Ottawa has not done a very great job of getting its fair share of the money. And as a result, we’re failing to deliver on the important priorities.

So put the big money files — housing and climate — in the hands of one guy, Ryan Perrault, and make him accountable to go get the money.

And, put Mr Perrault in charge of economic development and overall strategic planning. Which seems odd considering his background in operations, but let’s give Ryan the benefit of the doubt.

Here’s the problem

These files used to belong to other departments. Those departments were equally able to go out and get the money.

But they didn’t. Why not?

Culture.

The culture at City Hall rewards those who toe the line and do what they’re told.

It doesn’t reward those who try something new and risky. Or those who reach outside the four walls of their organization to learn how things could be done better. Or, heaven forbid, those who put the interests of residents first.

Ottawa City Hall has a “yessir” culture. Do as you’re told. Tell ‘em what they want to hear.

This culture always underperforms. Because no one is motivated by excellence. They’re motivated by keeping their head down and not getting in trouble.

A reorg won’t fix culture.

A reorg could remove from the decision-making process a bunch of managers with a “won’t work here” attitude. Make it the sole responsibility of one guy, and disempower everyone else.

That might produce short-term results in getting the money. But it will also relegate all the other departments to second class status. They’re no longer critical. No longer part of the inner circle.

Second class

You can take a few dozen individuals and put them in charge of everything strategic. But in the process, you are also saying to the rest of 15,000-strong City Hall bureaucracy that they’re not up to the important tasks. That you don’t really trust them with the stuff that really matters.

That’s not good for morale.

Effective organizations find a way to get the best out of every employee. They build a culture that values collaboration, risk-taking and an outward-orientation.

Ineffective organizations concentrate power and authority among smaller and smaller circles of key confidants. They create a culture that values obedience and conformity.

Leadership matters

Bureaucratic reform is hard.

For the City of Ottawa, it requires two conditions for success.

First, reform requires a mayor who understands how large public sector organizations work, and who can push back on the “that’s how it’s done here” attitude.

Second, reform requires a clean break from the cadre of senior managers who brought us the LRT fiasco. To quote Justice Horgan in his LRT Public Inquiry Report, we are dealing with:

“… a concerning approach taken by senior City officials to control the narrative by the nondisclosure of vital information or outright misrepresentation. Worse, because the conduct was wilful and deliberate, it leads to serious concerns about the good faith of senior City staff and raises questions about where their loyalties lie. It is difficult to imagine the successful completion of any significant project while these attitudes prevail within the municipal government.”

Ottawa has neither of those conditions in place.

This re-org looks like little more than an exercise to concentrate power closer to the General Manager’s office. The outcome, I fear, will be to further alienate and demotivate the many excellent individuals working as City staff.