Steven brings a new perspective and skillset on operational research and quality improvement to the team.
(Washington D.C) We are thrilled to welcome Steven Lagan as a new fellow at The Performance Institute. Steve joins PI with over 8 years of experience in operational research at the US Army.
Steven holds a BA in Operations Research from the United States Military Academy as well as a Master's degree in Operations Research from the Florida Institute of Technology and is a certified quality process analyst, lean six sigma black belt, and quality improvement associate.
Why did you join The Performance Institute?
The Performance Institute is well-known in public sector agencies for its high-quality, proven training in organizational performance management. When it became clear in my doctoral studies that logic modeling was going to play a central role in my dissertation, I went to the experts, PI. The instruction was excellent, and I was able to immediately apply what I learned to vocational and academic work. And just as importantly, I met amazing people along the way -- not just PI's instructors but my peers in each class who brought with them so much expertise and experience. I wanted to connect with this incredible community of public servants, so I got involved -- not just as a student and practitioner but also as a presenter at the Government Performance Summit. When PI invited me to join their team, I felt deeply honored. I couldn't say 'no!'
Is there anything you are particularly excited about?
I'm really excited to develop deeper relationships with performance management experts from state and local governments. Most of my relational network is in the federal government, and I'm learning something new from them all of the time. Thus, I have no doubt that developing deeper relationships with our state and local government performance management counterparts will deepen my understanding of this field -- revealing both commonalities and context-specific differences in how performance management is most effectively used as we serve our communities.
What do you hope to achieve with this new role?
I'm deeply interested in the behavioral dimension of organizational performance management. Performance is about human behaviors, not just effective strategic planning and measurement practices. Cognitive biases, individual and group motivations, and ethics all come into play. The more we understand these psychological influences, the more we can harness positive effects, minimize the negatives, and ultimately, increase the likelihood that our efforts benefit everyone involved. Simply put, I want to help the Performance Institute become known for its cutting-edge behavioral public administration research, applications, and instruction.