I recently wrote about challenges of innovation across government agencies, highlighting that legacy processes and a culture resistant to questioning assumptions are more harmful than outdated systems. These issues hinder effective mission execution and stifle progress.
In fact, after my last article, I was buoyed to see the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs announce online passport renewal - a major accomplishment that impacts millions of Americans and adds efficiency and convenience to a typically backlogged process.
In this article, a continuation of a series tackling innovation in government, I’ll provide another example of how innovation and improvement can be achieved within agencies, even when leaders are up against inherited challenges.
To succeed, leaders need to drive agency-wide buy-in for technology and process adaptation, while revisiting the reasons behind existing legacy processes and identifying improvements based on today’s capabilities. Rather than major overhauls, agencies can achieve success through incremental changes, re-architecting service delivery and addressing problems at their root. Many agencies have not revised their workflows in decades, remaining stuck in outdated processes and with inefficient systems.
When I was at State…
During my time at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, I had the honor of working with an exceptional team of dedicated professionals charged with the task of re-engineering the Department’s security clearance process. The State Department is the second largest Federal agency authorized to conduct background investigations and grant personnel security clearancesin accordance with E.O. 10450 and E.O. 12968 to its personnel. Together, we confronted the challenges of an outdated, inefficient system and transformed it through a mix of Lean Six Sigma principles, agile development, and innovative thinking. These efforts not only accelerated the clearance process at State, but also fostered a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration.
Inherited Challenges: Legacy Systems and Cultural Resistance
One of the first obstacles to be tackled in “fixing” the security clearance process at the Department of State was an antiquated case management system that was outdated and deeply intertwined with legacy processes. This system had been in place for over 30 years and had become unsupportable, inefficient, plagued by bottlenecks, archaic workarounds, and system delays and crashes. Worse still, there was a lack of transparency within the system for both internal security clearance process users (line staff and managers), as well as for external applicants and associated hiring managers from across the Department, which led to great frustration, uncertainty, and a lack of faith in the overall integrity of the underlying processes in the granting of clearances. Many within the organization, however, believed that the system, as cumbersome as it was, couldn’t be significantly improved and were doubtful anything better could be put in its place.
The team quickly realized that it wasn’t just the technology that needed an overhaul—it was also the way people had grown accustomed to operating within the system. This cultural resistance was a significant obstacle, but it also became an opportunity to apply Lean Six Sigma principles, which emphasize reducing waste and improving processes through data-driven decisions and continuous process improvement.
Lean Six Sigma in Action: A Collaborative Team Approach
The team applied Lean Six Sigma’s Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) methodology, using a collaborative approach from the very beginning. Each member of the team brought valuable insights and expertise to the table, contributing to the creation of solutions that would ultimately transform the clearance process.
- Define and Measure: The team’s first step was to map out the entire clearance process and collect data from every phase. They knew they couldn’t make meaningful improvements until they understood where inefficiencies were within legacy processes. The team worked together to identify key pain points, such as repetitive manual tasks and poor case prioritization. Each team member's hands-on experience was crucial in accurately measuring these issues.
- Analyze: As a team, they analyzed the data to identify the underlying causes of delays and inefficiencies. The legacy case management system, while “functional”, lacked the flexibility and responsiveness needed to prioritize cases effectively, creating bottlenecks that slowed down the entire process. A collective analysis highlighted the need to revamp the system to make it more up-to-date and responsive.
In the follow-up to this piece, I’ll cover the how of innovation - how we applied the Lean Six Sigma methodology analysis to revamp the case management system, and the broader modernizations and updates that we implemented as part of the initiative.
This article is part of a series about innovation in government agencies, drawing on real examples from my lived experience of transformative change management.
