Hope, frustration, and despair: Some reflections

During the early days in the public service, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were in the form of charts and graphs. This was to be my first experience with performance measurement and, although the use of performance indicators was confined to more senior management and did not affect me personally at the time, they were to be at the vanguard of a culture change that would eventually permeate the entire organization and the public sector in general. Experience with performance measure was, to me, the first evidence of aculture of continuous improvement and hinted at what I viewed as an attempt at a marked departure from the bureaucratic past