The Problem: A Broken System That Frustrates Businesses and Citizens
The Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) in Washington, D.C. was supposed to issue permits and enforce regulations. Instead, it became a nightmare for businesses—delays, inefficiencies, and even catastrophic failures like demolishing the wrong building.
The Root Cause: Leadership Ignored Frontline Wisdom
Employees knew what was broken but weren’t given a voice. Silos and outdated management structures prevented simple fixes.
The Solution: Empowering Employees to Solve Problems
We asked employees: Who do you trust? Who gets things done? Who is already innovating work? From this, we built a cross-functional design team to fix the system from the inside. The results:
- Permits were issued at Home Depot
- Permit wait times cut by 40%
- Inspectors were given new coordination tools, eliminating costly construction delays
- Union and Management collaborated on a new cross skill career ladder breaking down the functional silos
- Customer complaints dropped significantly