Checklists have a lot to offer the public sector, not only for meeting daily operational challenges but also for leaders looking to re-think the underlying infrastructure of governance.

To move the ball forward, we've created a checklist for an important element of public leadership: encouraging a culture of evidence-based decision-making -- a culture that values the use of research, evaluation, data and other analytical tools to strengthen results for residents and taxpayers.

The more boxes on the following list that agencies or jurisdictions are able to check off, the more progress they are likely to have made toward building an evidence-based governing culture:

  • Leadership
  • Vision
  • Strategic management
  • Learning agendas
  • Performance leadership
  • Evaluation capacity
  • Data sharing
  • Collaboration
  • Rapid experimentation
  • Evidence-based grant-making
  • Results-driven contracting

Read the full article about a checklist for good government by Andrew Feldman and Kathy Stack at Governing Magazine.