BCG: Governments Around the World Must Rethink Their Structure in the Face of Disruption

Powerful forces are transforming societies everywhere—but the structure of most governments remains unchanged. The public sector must move away from its siloed design to create a more agile organization—or risk a precipitous decline in effectiveness and legitimacy, according to a new report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The report, A Blueprint for the Government of the Future, is being released today.

The report describes four important structural changes for government: the creation of priority clusters that bring together policy areas that have significant overlap (such as education and labor), the establishment of functional accelerators to enhance government expertise in areas such as AI, the adoption of agile ways of working, and the creation of a single multichannel interface with citizens.

“Remaking the government blueprint is a complex undertaking,” says Christopher Daniel, a BCG partner and coauthor of the report. “But public-sector leaders don’t need to have all the answers to begin. They should start with some well-designed pilots, experiment, learn, and adjust accordingly. We are past the time for discussion—we need action.”

Creating Momentum For Change

To begin the process of creating a new government blueprint, BCG has identified three important steps that public-sector leaders can take:

• Governments need to create a vision that articulates both a strong case for transformation and the outlines of the new structure. The vision should identify which areas have significant connection and overlap and are therefore good candidates for combining into priority clusters.
• One group or entity must drive the restructuring. In order to avoid potential conflicts of interest, this group should be independent of any existing government offices.
• Governments need to get started with some initial, high-impact changes. This can include the creation of a few priority clusters and pilots to embed agile approaches—the use of cross-functional teams to develop, test, and refine new programs or policies—throughout the organization.

“Governments today understand that they must deliver for their citizens,” says Vincent Chin, coauthor and senior partner at BCG. “Doing that requires a fundamental transformation of their existing structures and systems. Pioneering governments have shown that citizen-centric programs are possible—but not without an overhaul of their entire service delivery system.”