Private and Public Sector Continuous Improvement with Drew Erdmann

Today on the podcast, I’m talking with Drew Erdmann who served as the chief operating officer of the state of Missouri from February 2017 to April 2021. Under two governors, he was responsible for leading the management transformation across the state of Missouri's 16 Cabinet departments, which equates to roughly 45,000 employees.

In this episode, Drew talks about both private and public sector continuous improvement, his transition between the two and how to bridge the gap between the private sector and the government.

What You’ll Learn This Episode:

• Transitioning from private sector to public sector
• The approach to introducing operational excellence to the state of Missouri government
• Drew’s experience with the public sector and executive leadership level
• The major differences between private and public sector
• How do we bridge the gap between the private sector techniques and the government
• Building a network or community that can withstand change
• Successes that the operational excellence community was able to achieve

About the Guest:

Drew Erdmann served as the Chief Operating Officer of the State of Missouri from February 2017 to April 2021. Under two governors, he was responsible for leading the management transformation across the State of Missouri’s 16 Cabinet departments and their roughly 45,000 employees. Among these enterprise reforms were establishing Missouri’s first cross-departmental Operational Excellence community and prioritizing leadership development and skill building at all levels.

Before his state government service, Drew worked in the private sector for over a decade with the global consultancy McKinsey & Company. As a partner at McKinsey, he served clients in the aerospace & defense, energy, infrastructure, and government sectors in the United States and overseas.

Prior to McKinsey, Drew served across the U.S. federal government in a variety of national security roles with the State Department, the Defense Department in Iraq, and National Security Council at the White House.

Drew received an AM and then PhD in history from Harvard University after earning a BA degree from Williams College and a second BA degree from Oxford University.

Important Links:

https://showmeexcellence.mo.gov/

https://twitter.com/drewerdmann?lang=en

https://www.linkedin.com/in/drew-erdmann-aa49567/