View from the Cordillera

A Commentary on Achieving Excellence in Local Government
Read by Municipal Leaders on 4 Continents
Published by the Cordillera Institute (Vol. 4, Issue 6)

What Is Excellence?  And, How Can We Achieve It?

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Summary of This Commentary
The other day, I had the pleasure of meeting 1 of our newer readers.  During our brief discussion, he asked me to define excellence in local government.  He noted that this concept has appeared in virtually every issue of this publication that he has read and is found on every page of our web site.  However, he had yet to locate a full explanation of just what we had in mind.  In the short time available, I was able to give him a checklist of what we consider to be its main elements.  But, I promised to flesh out those points in an upcoming commentary.  This issue is the fulfilment of that commitment.  And, I expect that it may answer some questions that you have had, particularly if you are a newer reader or someone recently introduced to our Institute.  Some of the questions answered are: How do we define excellence?  How is accountability defined?  How is productivity defined?  How do we measure excellence?  How is excellence achieved?  This commentary concludes with descriptions of the essential elements of success -- success in achieving excellence in local government.

As always, we welcome your comments.

David Barber
Director
Cordillera Institute
(416) 293-9300
CordInst@istar.ca
http://pages.istar.ca/~cordinst/

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About This Publication
Each week, View from the Cordillera covers some aspect of excellence in local government.  It may examine one of the success elements; it may present a case study; it may introduce a resource (an individual, a group, a publication, etc.) which is advancing excellence; it may advocate a new direction for local government; or it may identify a wrong turn in public policy and offer an appropriate remedy.  This electronic publication is being sent to those who govern, manage, support, and sustain our municipalities.  For more information, just click on the About VFC button below.

About the Cordillera Institute
The Cordillera Institute is an independent research and public policy organization dedicated to excellence in local government.  Since our founding in 1994, we have studied many high-performance organizations to learn what makes them successful.  From this research, we have distilled a set of principles, paradigms, policies, programs, and practices which are the key elements of their success.  Our mission is to be a catalyst -- to empower municipalities, public utilities, school boards, and other local public agencies to achieve excellence by adopting and applying these success elements.  For more information, just click on the About CI button below.

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