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 Silos and outdated management structures prevented simple fixes.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