The Generalist Perspective in the HEW Bureaucracy: An Account from the Field

Increasingly, generalist administrators in the public sector are venturing beyond traditional management control functions. This article, in case study format, addresses that development. It focuses on the author's experience in trying to apply a generalist perspective in a regional office of the highly fragmented HEW bureaucracy. It addresses that experience in terms of the strategic framework used, the major roles played, and the successes and failures encountered. At the close, it stresses how the effective performance of generalist roles is dependent on a carefully cultivated external perspective and a finely tuned awareness of the common concerns facing generalist administrators.