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Opinion | Smooth sailing on Lee’s KPIs means little if residents get left behind
- Unless the public sees the value of John Lee’s KPIs and relates them to the government improving their lives, they will have little impact
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Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has finished two years of his five-year term and it looks like it has been smooth sailing for him. Lee and his public relations team appear to have latched onto “sailing” as a metaphor for Lee’s government and their work.
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Lee has been meeting the media ahead of the 27th anniversary of the handover and sharing what looks to be a progress report he has given himself. Just so we are not accused of being too negative, let’s be a good sport and go with their flow.
Lee has likened himself to the captain of a ship and his team as the sailing crew. His job is to make sure the ship is on the right course. As far as he is concerned, the ship is making faster progress in the right direction each day. Hence, everyone on his team has met his expectations despite some setbacks, and they will all stay on board.
Lee seemed happy to report that he and his team have made good progress. He was happy to share that more than 200 key performance indicators (KPIs) he set for the government had been achieved. In his first policy address, he assigned 110 indicators for specified tasks and KPIs to be met. Last year, he set 150 KPIs, of which 73 were new to the list.
Having achieved more than 200 KPIs suggests he is on track. That is good, but what does having all those things checked off the list mean?
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For Lee, it means he has changed the culture of the government to become a result-oriented team. It’s not easy to change the culture of any organisation, let alone a government, so Lee deserves plaudits for that. With clear objectives, goals and tasks, he seems to be a capable administrator.
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