In over 20 years of public service and nearly 10 years as the director of the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division, I’ve seen firsthand the dedication of public servants and their private sector partners in looking for ways to better serve our customers. Too often, we are inaccurately cast as the sloth from Zootopia. Many question why it takes so long to see change from us. There are many reasons, and some are within our control and many are beyond it. When we focus on what we can control, it often comes down to our risk-reward calculations.

Most of us are willing and able to take smart, calculated risks to reap rewards. But it is difficult to know how to calculate those risks. This applies to both acting and not acting. Even when we can calculate the risk, we often find we are not in a position to act because the necessary resources are not available. It’s easy to get discouraged in these situations.

Over the years, I have observed a common characteristic of leaders who can successfully take risks to better serve their customers. They make investments early. Being ready to make a calculated risk requires having resources. Our biggest resources are our teams, and having the right people on our teams is critical to being able to make those investments.

For example, if you want to do a mobile driver’s license (mDL) right but you’re not ready right now, start investing in the right people to prepare your agency for when you are ready. There is no question that every state, province, territory and federal district eventually will be expected to have one. With that in mind, don’t wait to build depth on your internal and external teams.

Not all investments pay off. I tell my teams that if they don’t make any mistakes, they aren’t trying enough ideas. This is hard because we often (rightly) worry that a failure could cost us our jobs. So, learn to fail fast. When trying something new, have measures of success along the way, so you can quickly tell when things are not working and adjust.

Having a trusted network helps make good investments. For our community, this includes AAMVA staff, other jurisdictions and private sector partners. Engage and learn what others have already discovered. We all take turns going first and sharing lessons.

At the end of the day, just do something. With so many possible initiatives, deciding where to start can be overwhelming. In electronic titling, for example, there is now an awesome scorecard for jurisdictions to self-assess and see what gaps they have to a full e-title solution.

Looking at multiple gap points can be overwhelming with so many places to invest. If the starting point is not obvious, then just pick something. As a good friend often tells me, “you can’t steer a parked car.”

For both AAMVA and jurisdictions, making early investments means better meeting our customer needs.