Recipe for success

Reinvention of the Federal Aviation Administration's Logistics Center could

not have happened without the buy-in of its 600 employees.

Norman Bowles, director of the logistics center, used several motivational

tools to educate and encourage workers to contribute ideas. One such tool

is a cookbook titled "A Taste of Reinvention: Recipes From the Heartland,"

which was updated in 2000 as "Turn Around 2000." The cookbook contains real

recipes commingled with the principles of reinvention. It served as a guide

for the effort but also showed workers that change could be fun, he said.

For instance, Beer Battered Reinvention Fillets require flour, an egg,

a can of beer, salt, catfish fillets and a stiff egg white. The recipe notes

that the catfish started out as an object of derision. "With a few changes,

our catfish becomes something to brag about. The same is true for government

reinvention," according to the recipe. Other recipes are for Diversity Chili,

Organizational Values Biscuits and Cheesecake by Stages. Bowles also posted

information on a wall about the best organizations in government and the

private sector so that workers could view the competition and have an incentive

to find new ways to do things.