SOURCES OF INNOVATION

What conditions or attitudes encouraged innovation in St. Louis County? George is reticent at first, but when he warms to the topic of innovation, his blue eyes darken, and he becomes animated. Waste, it becomes clear, is something that George hates as much as Kleinknecht does. But waste brings on the conditions that foster innovation. "Somewhere along the line you run out of money. Police departments have run into caps on their budgets. Now, they must listen to better, cheaper ways of protecting the public."

Colonel Kleinknecht thinks zero-base budgeting is responsible for his employees' creativity. It does not permit them to assume that anything happening now will continue into the next budget cycle unless its continuation can be justified. This constraint makes a difference, he says, along with his continual repetition of two fundamental questions: "How can we do it better and cheaper?" "What would you do if it were your own money?" And he frequently reminds his staff, "I don't care what you did yesterday."

Not only does Kleinknecht employ management techniques such as zero-base budgeting, but he also keeps clearly before him a very untraditional mission statement. His department is there, he said, to protect people's lives and property, not to be protective of its own institutional interests. This philosophy finds expression in virtually everything Kleinknecht does.

For instance, in most police departments, appointment to the detective ranks is considered a plum. Under Kleinknecht, St. Louis County police have a policy that someone can be a detective for only five years and then has to go back on patrol. "Our basic premise is that patrol