Steve Gordon: Inside the California DMV’s Transformation

0:00:02 We didn’t make it easy and we should just realize that the
0:00:04 comparator in the marketplace is Amazon.
0:00:07 So I talked to my staff and I asked anybody order anything for
0:00:10 Amazon over the holidays and every hand goes up and says, so when
0:00:13 you’re thinking that the DMV or government should be different.
0:00:15 I said, no, we should be good as what we’re trying to do as they
0:00:17 are, we should make the products are on the shelf.
0:00:20 We should know that what they want to buy, we should make it easy
0:00:21 to put it in the car, we should make it easy to pay.
0:00:25 And again, we have some room to go there, but that’s the
0:00:25 direction we’re heading.
0:00:29 Hello, everybody, it’s Guy Kawasaki.
0:00:33 This is the Remarkable People podcast and today I have a
0:00:38 guest that if you had told me when I first started getting
0:00:41 driver’s license in California that someday I would have a
0:00:46 podcast about Remarkable People and I would bring on the show,
0:00:50 the person who ran the California State Department of Motor
0:00:52 Vehicles, I would tell you, you are crazy.
0:00:55 Because I spent half my life waiting at that frickin’
0:01:00 office in Redwood City, so I am very proud that this is the
0:01:02 Remarkable People podcast.
0:01:04 We’re trying to make you Remarkable and I have the
0:01:11 Remarkable Steve Gordon, who runs the California DMV and I can
0:01:15 tell you from personal experience, I love the DMV.
0:01:18 Not many people might say that, but if you really think about
0:01:21 it, you’ve had recent experience, but it’s true.
0:01:25 You’ve had recent experience at the California DMV.
0:01:27 You would be happy, I’m telling you.
0:01:31 I want to give a special shout out to my favorite office,
0:01:34 which is the Capitola California DMV.
0:01:36 They are so great there.
0:01:39 So welcome to the show, Steve Gordon.
0:01:41 Thank you, Guy, glad to be here.
0:01:45 I am sincere in my praise for the California DMV.
0:01:49 I’m telling you, I just look forward to registration time,
0:01:51 I know what it is.
0:01:55 I’m going to go buy more cars after registering more often.
0:01:58 We look forward to helping you with that, so thanks.
0:02:01 And now that I’m getting older, I have to get my license
0:02:05 renewed more often, so it’s all good.
0:02:06 But still, it should only be every five years.
0:02:08 And we’ve simplified.
0:02:10 You still have to have an eye exam, but no longer do you need
0:02:11 a written knowledge test.
0:02:13 So it’s simple.
0:02:14 Wait, when did that happen?
0:02:17 Because I know I took the test in an eye exam.
0:02:20 Just recently, this was probably about six, five months ago,
0:02:23 where we actually removed the requirement
0:02:24 for a knowledge test.
0:02:26 This was popular when we left COVID,
0:02:29 because we had waved it during COVID.
0:02:31 And then we brought it back, and there was outrage.
0:02:33 And then we actually went back and looked at the data
0:02:36 and saw that very little correlation between passing
0:02:38 a knowledge test and safe driving.
0:02:39 So we convinced our administration
0:02:42 that it’s the right thing to do, and we had good controls
0:02:44 and other ways to take care of driver safety.
0:02:47 And we got rid of the exam.
0:02:48 Yeah, it’s fantastic.
0:02:52 Wait, so when you say you convinced your administration,
0:02:53 what does that mean?
0:02:55 You just call up Gavin as a Gavin.
0:02:57 It doesn’t matter if people take a knowledge test
0:03:00 and Gavin says to see, yeah, okay, fine, take it off.
0:03:01 How does that work?
0:03:04 No, I think the governor’s got many, many bigger things
0:03:06 to do than worry about that.
0:03:08 But we work as part of the administration,
0:03:10 and we try to make sure that as we make changes,
0:03:13 that’s very public, and we want to make sure
0:03:17 that we work with the folks that are in our agency
0:03:17 and so we want to make sure they’re aware
0:03:20 of what we’re trying to do, why we’re trying to do it,
0:03:22 and why we believe it’s the right thing to do.
0:03:24 And just want to make sure this is,
0:03:25 government is one of those things that they want,
0:03:26 no surprises.
0:03:28 So we want to make sure we socialize it the right way,
0:03:31 share the data, share the facts, talk about the opportunity,
0:03:34 and making sure that, of course, the skid degrees
0:03:36 so we could roll it out and be successful.
0:03:41 And the state attorney general doesn’t call you up
0:03:44 and say, listen, we cannot lower the standards
0:03:48 because somebody who didn’t have the eye exam,
0:03:50 it is gonna run over a little old lady
0:03:51 and they’re gonna sue the state
0:03:56 because we removed the eye exam from the licensing process.
0:03:57 – We didn’t actually remove the eye exam,
0:04:00 but we took away is the knowledge test.
0:04:01 – Oh, the knowledge test, okay.
0:04:03 – That’s something that people struggle with,
0:04:06 but these people who’ve written to me and I’ve met with,
0:04:09 these are people that have been driving for 50, 60 years,
0:04:11 so it’s nothing they’re gonna learn
0:04:12 about driving from a knowledge test.
0:04:13 Even though we simplified it,
0:04:15 we actually made it more of a video
0:04:17 so you can see how to drive safely.
0:04:19 But so that’s the part that we removed
0:04:21 that we actually, we’ve been studying this
0:04:22 for many, many years.
0:04:27 I have a bunch of R&D folks, PhDs that study driver behavior
0:04:29 and they go back and show you the correlation
0:04:31 between passing an exam and safe driving
0:04:33 and there is no correlation.
0:04:36 So there’s no sensitivity to if you don’t pass the exam,
0:04:37 you’re gonna be a worse driver.
0:04:40 Think about when we were 16 year old boys,
0:04:41 we passed the knowledge exam
0:04:44 and we were not the best drivers out of the chute.
0:04:47 Now the iExam you mentioned is still required.
0:04:48 It’s not actually in statute.
0:04:49 There are different ways to do the iExam.
0:04:51 People that are perhaps more fortunate
0:04:53 that can go to some case lens crafters at the mall,
0:04:55 not to promote a product or go to Kaiser,
0:04:57 which I’m a Kaiser customer or somebody else.
0:04:59 You can actually have that physician send in
0:05:03 other results of the iExam and satisfy that requirement.
0:05:05 – Okay, it’s good to know.
0:05:06 – Yeah, don’t get me in trouble here, guy.
0:05:08 We’re just starting this discussion.
0:05:11 – I’ll put in a good word with Gavin for you.
0:05:12 – Don’t worry.
0:05:13 – Great, thanks.
0:05:16 So I just take me back in history.
0:05:18 So like, how did this come about?
0:05:21 Did the state of California retain a headhunter
0:05:24 or did Gavin personally recruit you?
0:05:27 I don’t even understand how you become in charge of the DMV.
0:05:28 – I didn’t either,
0:05:31 but I was gonna semi-retired to take my wife
0:05:32 would probably say that.
0:05:34 And we were living in San Jose at the time
0:05:37 and we’re local newspaper, San Jose Mercury News
0:05:39 and Aaron Baldassari wrote an article.
0:05:40 I’m sure it was like the editor said,
0:05:42 hey, write something.
0:05:44 So she put an article that I believe the headline was,
0:05:46 hate the DMV, you could run it.
0:05:48 And my wife was reading the Mercury News.
0:05:50 She saw that and she read what was in the post.
0:05:52 She says, honey, that sounds like you.
0:05:54 And the implicit thing in there was,
0:05:57 well, and you don’t seem very busy.
0:05:59 And so anyway, so I read the article.
0:06:01 I looked at the governor’s appointment page
0:06:03 and I’d read a little bit about the DMV and said,
0:06:04 let’s see what happens.
0:06:06 And I did not expect anything to happen.
0:06:07 You put it in this hopper.
0:06:09 It was very much a government forum.
0:06:10 There’s a lot of places to fill things in.
0:06:13 You’re like, this is never gonna fly.
0:06:14 And sure enough, about six weeks later,
0:06:17 I get a phone call from area code 916,
0:06:18 something like, who do I know in Sacramento?
0:06:20 And sure enough, it was part of the recruiting process
0:06:22 and I went to my first interview in Sacramento
0:06:23 a few days later.
0:06:25 So it was completely out of the blue.
0:06:27 This job found me and it just so happens
0:06:29 that given my past experience,
0:06:31 it was not a bad fit with my background.
0:06:32 My wife was absolutely right.
0:06:35 And so when she complains about it’s hot in Sacramento
0:06:37 in the summer and it can be very hot here,
0:06:39 I remind her that she got us here.
0:06:43 And so she should enjoy and make the best out of it.
0:06:46 We have it, it’s Sacramento in the midtown area
0:06:48 for dining, it is fantastic.
0:06:50 We really enjoy the hard time in Sacramento.
0:06:51 – And to get a job like this,
0:06:53 is it like working at Google
0:06:55 where you have 12 rounds of interviews and they say,
0:06:58 so Steve, how would you count the number
0:07:01 of manhole covers in the state of California?
0:07:03 How does it work in this process?
0:07:05 – I’ve been critical of the interviewing process
0:07:06 ’cause it is a bit abstract
0:07:10 and in government we’re trying to be super fair, very even.
0:07:14 So sometimes the questions are just a big goofy.
0:07:16 And it’s where my wife traveled up with me
0:07:17 when we did these interviews.
0:07:18 So we were just commuting up from the Bay Area
0:07:20 and I left the first interview
0:07:21 and I was just like shaking my head and said,
0:07:23 okay, this is done.
0:07:26 Because it was just such an odd interview.
0:07:27 I assumed that they were not serious,
0:07:29 they were just checking the boxes and okay, yeah,
0:07:32 we interviewed some guy from the Bay Area.
0:07:34 And sure enough, a couple weeks later, I got another call.
0:07:38 And it’s now we’re now progressing up the leadership chain.
0:07:41 And eventually I get to meet with the governor’s chief
0:07:42 of staff, Ann O’Leary.
0:07:45 If you’ve Google her, she’s a very serious woman
0:07:47 as it has worked in the highest levels of government
0:07:49 at the federal level.
0:07:50 And you’re meeting with Ann O’Leary and you’re thinking,
0:07:52 okay, this is getting serious.
0:07:54 And as I left the interview that day with my wife again,
0:07:57 I said, you’re gonna have to really consider like right now
0:07:59 that do you wanna move to Sacramento?
0:08:03 Because our next interview is gonna be with the governor.
0:08:05 And sure enough, like five minutes later,
0:08:06 Ann’s calling me on the phone and saying,
0:08:08 hey, can you come back tomorrow?
0:08:10 The governor wants to meet with you.
0:08:11 So we had to decide, I said,
0:08:12 are we gonna move into Sacramento?
0:08:14 Because it’s getting serious.
0:08:17 And I met with governor, super curious guy,
0:08:20 very interested in trying to improve government.
0:08:22 And I was impressed and I shared with him
0:08:24 what he should expect getting from me.
0:08:26 Because I have things that I’m focused on,
0:08:28 the things that I wanna do a certain way.
0:08:31 And I was impressed and apparently I impressed him enough.
0:08:32 And the next thing you know,
0:08:33 they’re trotting me out in a press conference.
0:08:34 And as you know, right?
0:08:36 You never wanna follow a better speaker.
0:08:39 So here’s a governor doing his thing as he does,
0:08:40 is an amazing speaker.
0:08:42 Then they trot me out.
0:08:45 And I’m like, deer in the headlights.
0:08:46 And that was it.
0:08:47 And then next thing you know,
0:08:49 I’m meeting with the staff and getting to know
0:08:52 what’s really going on inside the department.
0:08:54 – Wait, back up for a second.
0:08:57 So just give me an example of a question or two
0:09:00 in the first interview that was goofy.
0:09:01 – It’s probably unfair,
0:09:02 but they were of the type, you know,
0:09:04 like what’s your favorite color?
0:09:05 And I get not being critical,
0:09:07 but they were, I think people are trying to be fair.
0:09:10 So they asked these very generic questions.
0:09:11 And from that,
0:09:13 I’m not sure what you’re supposed to take from it.
0:09:15 But when I’ve talked to my friends,
0:09:16 I say it’s the equivalent of that.
0:09:18 And it’s like, what were they trying to learn from that?
0:09:21 And I know people that of course were in that interview
0:09:23 are gonna listen to this discussion.
0:09:24 They’re gonna say, what do you mean?
0:09:25 But it was very odd.
0:09:28 And I’ve shared with folks that are in the various offices
0:09:31 and say we had to up the game on making sure,
0:09:33 especially at an executive level,
0:09:35 you should be talking about what do you really want to know
0:09:36 from that person?
0:09:38 You can ask tough questions or reasonably tough questions
0:09:41 to a number of people and then still be consistent.
0:09:43 So anyway, that was, like I said,
0:09:46 we were driving home from that as like, okay, that’s done.
0:09:48 We’re gonna go back and gonna do something else.
0:09:50 But it turned out that it wasn’t done.
0:09:50 – My God.
0:09:53 And tell me, so now you’re meeting with the governor,
0:09:55 you get an offer and all that.
0:09:58 And then what do your buddies at Cisco say?
0:10:01 Like what, have you lost your mind, Steve?
0:10:02 Why would you do this?
0:10:04 What was their reaction?
0:10:06 – I thought their reaction was fantastic.
0:10:09 They’re like, thank God someone’s gonna go in there
0:10:09 and do something.
0:10:12 And for the people that work closely with me at Cisco,
0:10:14 I mean, they knew that I’m an operations guy,
0:10:15 I’m no nonsense.
0:10:17 I’m a ton of energy to apply on things.
0:10:19 And they were like, yeah, great.
0:10:21 If you need anything, give me a call.
0:10:23 I even got, of course, I got posted in the press.
0:10:25 Some people were posting on my LinkedIn page.
0:10:27 And the funniest comment was this guy.
0:10:28 I was at Microsoft.
0:10:29 He goes, you know, you ought to see if the governor
0:10:31 will reduce your salary by $6.
0:10:33 ‘Cause if he does reduce your salary by $6,
0:10:35 it’ll be equal to the speed of light
0:10:38 in miles per second or whatever.
0:10:39 And I looked at that and said, okay,
0:10:41 first the guy was pulling for me for success
0:10:43 and he was having a little fun with the speed of light.
0:10:44 It was a math question.
0:10:45 And I thought, okay, I love that.
0:10:47 But I think people truly were pulling for me.
0:10:49 And I tell you, when I got into the job,
0:10:53 there were a number of opportunities for bringing,
0:10:54 or at least needing some context.
0:10:55 So I reached out into my network
0:10:57 and people were extremely generous.
0:10:59 And are still extremely generous.
0:11:00 When I need to understand something
0:11:02 or how to think about this,
0:11:04 people are very generous with their time,
0:11:05 which is fantastic.
0:11:06 And they want to be involved.
0:11:08 They want to see things improved.
0:11:10 And they’re just glad that they can give the ball
0:11:11 to somebody unlike me.
0:11:12 And I’m very fortunate to have those friends
0:11:15 and acquaintances in that network to call upon.
0:11:17 – Well, Steve, let me go on the record right now
0:11:20 that if you ever want my advice
0:11:24 on how to evangelize the DMV,
0:11:26 I’m there for you, bro.
0:11:28 I would love to help you guys.
0:11:29 – That’s great.
0:11:31 We’ll see about what edits we can put into this podcast
0:11:32 and see if we take it.
0:11:33 I’m kidding, no.
0:11:35 No, I mean, people are extremely generous.
0:11:37 And it’s really fantastic that people want to be
0:11:39 that invested and they see that there’s an opportunity
0:11:41 to make change.
0:11:43 We can’t fix everything, but that’s our Prado charge.
0:11:46 We’re attacking this one silo at a time.
0:11:47 And we’ve had a lot of success,
0:11:49 but there’s still a lot more work to do.
0:11:51 – So just to back up a step,
0:11:53 because people outside of California
0:11:56 and outside of America may not be familiar
0:11:58 with what a DMV does.
0:12:01 So can you just explain what it is you do
0:12:03 and what it is you don’t do?
0:12:06 Who does the freeways or is it just licensing
0:12:08 or where’s the dividing lines?
0:12:10 – So all the DMVs across the nation
0:12:11 are slightly different.
0:12:14 California has vehicles and drivers in it.
0:12:18 And we’re also responsible for the automobile dealer network.
0:12:19 So we have oversight over what’s called
0:12:22 an occupational license that are all these things
0:12:26 that touch businesses that are selling cars, motorcycles,
0:12:28 anything that is considered a vehicle.
0:12:31 But by and large, the thing we do the most are vehicles.
0:12:34 You buy a vehicle, title of vehicle, register a vehicle.
0:12:36 There’s 36, 37, 38 million,
0:12:39 and which number you look at of those that are in the system.
0:12:41 We have drivers, of course, that’s you and me,
0:12:44 that are somewhere 27, 28 million unique driver’s license.
0:12:46 So that’s the right of passage for many people.
0:12:48 So that’s another important thing that we do.
0:12:50 And then everything else past that
0:12:52 is really administering those two things.
0:12:54 There are some, like I said, dribs and drabs,
0:12:55 and I don’t mean to be disrespectful,
0:12:58 but we have oversight of the automotive industry.
0:12:59 So that’s an occupational license,
0:13:00 and there are lots of dealers.
0:13:02 We want to take that very seriously.
0:13:05 There are the things that happen to vehicles, lean sales.
0:13:06 I have an investigations unit.
0:13:08 I didn’t know when I got hired
0:13:10 that I have a small law enforcement team.
0:13:13 And they’re very focused on enforcing the laws
0:13:16 that are sort of our narrow lane in the vehicle code.
0:13:18 And so it’s been a great learning curve for me.
0:13:20 When I showed up, I thought it was just vehicles
0:13:21 and driver’s license.
0:13:23 And it turns out that it’s a whole bunch more.
0:13:24 And these are very serious matters.
0:13:26 And we want to take them seriously
0:13:28 and want to do as much good as humanly possible
0:13:29 for the consumer.
0:13:31 We want to make sure businesses can do their thing
0:13:33 and be efficient and effective.
0:13:35 And that means we have to sit in a lot of different chairs
0:13:37 and understand what’s the most important thing we can do
0:13:38 and what’s the best solution,
0:13:41 best path to a solution for this problem or that problem.
0:13:44 – And does your data interface anything
0:13:47 with voter registration or jury duty
0:13:48 or anything like that?
0:13:49 – No jury duty.
0:13:52 I have jury duty, I need to call in for on Monday.
0:13:53 So thanks for the reminder.
0:13:55 But California is a motor voter state.
0:13:57 And all that merely means is that when you come in
0:14:00 to do something for the motor side, DMV sort of stuff,
0:14:03 we pop up a form as part of the application process
0:14:05 from the secretary of state.
0:14:06 And the secretary of state’s form will ask you
0:14:08 if you want to register to vote
0:14:11 or if you want to change your voter registration criteria.
0:14:13 When I arrived that that motor voter system
0:14:15 was in a bit of disarray.
0:14:17 So there was a few crises when I showed up.
0:14:20 I got to meet the secretary of state now, Senator Padilla,
0:14:21 very imposing man.
0:14:24 And we had a good chance to chat about
0:14:27 the motor voter process, what we’re going to do,
0:14:28 how we’re going to govern it.
0:14:30 And we worked closely with the secretary of state’s office
0:14:34 to get it so that that process worked and was improved.
0:14:36 And now I think is highly functional.
0:14:37 And that’s where you want it to be.
0:14:39 And got it off the radar of everyone as a problematic system,
0:14:42 got it to stable and now we just maintain.
0:14:44 – And do you have any interaction
0:14:48 with the federal department of transportation
0:14:52 or NHTSA or anything like that?
0:14:55 – Yeah, so we work with NHTSA on many things.
0:14:57 And we also work with the federal highway administration.
0:14:59 So those two have different jurisdictional roles.
0:15:01 And I’m still new enough,
0:15:03 five and a half years into the thing.
0:15:05 I’m still not sure exactly what each one does,
0:15:06 but I know that they play a role.
0:15:08 And one is responsible for funding
0:15:10 and keeping the highway system going.
0:15:12 The other one is responsible for the vehicle side of it.
0:15:13 So if there’s a vehicle recall,
0:15:15 you’ll see through that department of transportation,
0:15:18 the NHTSA arm will be coordinating those efforts.
0:15:21 And then we’ll have responsibility to make sure that those,
0:15:22 let’s say it’s an emissions recall,
0:15:24 which really may be not from NHTSA,
0:15:26 but we have responsibility of working with them
0:15:29 and making sure that regulations that they promulgate
0:15:33 are as they’re applicable to us are applied in the state.
0:15:35 So we do work with federal agencies.
0:15:37 – So when you first got there,
0:15:40 describe the situation you inherited?
0:15:43 – I had spent 18, 19 years at Cisco Systems
0:15:46 and my last sort of five, 10 years there,
0:15:48 I did a lot of acquisition integration.
0:15:49 If there was a services business,
0:15:52 I would be responsible to get it to tuck in and so on.
0:15:54 So when I showed up at the department,
0:15:55 it was very similar.
0:15:57 There were these different groups.
0:15:58 We call them divisions.
0:16:00 Initially you might call them tribes
0:16:02 where they were these vertically integrated things
0:16:05 and they were independent and driving the ship.
0:16:07 So I had a chance to work with all of the deputies,
0:16:09 trying to understand what we were trying to do,
0:16:11 but understanding that we were on the clock, right?
0:16:12 When my days at Cisco, you had some time
0:16:14 to figure out what we just bought
0:16:16 and where it might fit and how to get the best out of it.
0:16:18 But we were on the clock in the government
0:16:21 because this real ID, the first real ID deadline was looming
0:16:23 and we had to get our act together very, very quickly.
0:16:24 So I gathered the deputies around,
0:16:26 we figured out what the initiatives were,
0:16:28 we tried to figure out who’s who in the zoo, so to speak
0:16:30 and try to make sure that we were focused on
0:16:32 the right things with the right people,
0:16:34 with the right resources, the right metrics.
0:16:36 And we just started to attack
0:16:38 as you would do in any particular business,
0:16:40 making sure that the first things first,
0:16:42 next thing, next thing, next thing.
0:16:43 And there were some really good people.
0:16:45 There still are some really good people here.
0:16:47 Many of those people that I met on day one,
0:16:49 they’re still here, they want to win.
0:16:51 Sometimes they just didn’t know how to prioritize
0:16:54 or how to settle disputes between the tribes.
0:16:56 And we set up a different governance structure
0:16:58 and made sure that in fact we could resolve this issue
0:17:00 so we can actually do the most important thing
0:17:02 for our constituents.
0:17:04 – But do you have some statistics for us
0:17:07 that when you started, the average waiting time
0:17:11 was two hours or whatever, what were service levels like
0:17:12 when you came into this?
0:17:15 – Yeah, government and measurements are not
0:17:17 as strong a partner, should you like to think.
0:17:20 But one simple measure we had, we,
0:17:23 before I started, the governor had asked,
0:17:25 I think this was Governor Brown had asked McKinsey
0:17:29 to come in and work with the government operations group.
0:17:30 They did some really nice work.
0:17:32 And one of the things that I often joke
0:17:34 with the McKinsey partner, we still have a relationship,
0:17:36 the one really great thing they left us
0:17:37 is a value stream map.
0:17:41 And it showed for a real ID, the number of steps,
0:17:44 many of these were just self-imposed policy steps
0:17:46 that we added to the real ID process.
0:17:47 And a value stream map, the way you use it,
0:17:49 you start looking at each step, you challenge each step
0:17:51 and you’re looking for things that are called waste.
0:17:53 And those waste are things you don’t really need to do
0:17:54 but you’re doing, they’re in the way.
0:17:57 And that process at the time was somewhere
0:17:58 around 28 minutes.
0:18:00 And that’s just based on the value stream map
0:18:01 and that’s being generous.
0:18:04 It was actually probably a little longer than that.
0:18:05 So we attacked that with vigor.
0:18:07 We took it from 28 minutes to 10 minutes
0:18:09 and this now runs around routinely around eight minutes,
0:18:12 still four minutes longer than what it needs to do.
0:18:15 But with our current systems, that’s how it works.
0:18:17 So that’s one measure, it was like 28 to 10.
0:18:20 We had wait times that were in the press there.
0:18:22 Four hours, sometimes two and a half hours,
0:18:23 sometimes longer.
0:18:25 I don’t know if any of that was really well measured.
0:18:27 And then on top of that, just one last thing,
0:18:29 that there was also an internal audit
0:18:31 that was ongoing before I arrived.
0:18:34 It was called the OSE audit office of something.
0:18:36 Anyway, some state auditor looking at performance measure.
0:18:39 So they were in there helping to try to figure out
0:18:41 what else was going on in the department.
0:18:42 So all that stuff was, when I arrived,
0:18:45 was just coming to fruition.
0:18:47 So I can actually immediately take a look at that,
0:18:49 figure out which of those things I need to incorporate
0:18:52 into my plan and be able to attack based on that.
0:18:54 ‘Cause you do need baselines and we had a couple,
0:18:56 but they were really not as robust as you’d see
0:18:57 in private industry.
0:19:00 (upbeat music)
0:19:13 – Some people may be wondering what exactly
0:19:15 are they talking about with Real ID?
0:19:17 So can you explain Real ID for the listener?
0:19:20 – Sure, Real ID is actually a spin out, if you will,
0:19:22 of a federal requirement from 9/11.
0:19:25 This was back in the day where we were concerned
0:19:27 about people accessing an airport, getting on a flight,
0:19:29 and we really didn’t know who they were.
0:19:33 ‘Cause each state’s requirements for identification
0:19:36 were different and they still are different to some degree,
0:19:39 but if you wanna access this federal entity, an airport,
0:19:42 there was a law passed, the Real ID Act,
0:19:45 and that tried to standardize what the requirements were
0:19:47 to make sure that identity documents
0:19:49 were the same across the nation.
0:19:51 Residency documents were the same across the nation
0:19:53 so that when you have a Real ID
0:19:57 and you show up at an airport, show up at a TSA stop,
0:19:59 as you’re trying to get into the airport,
0:20:01 they’ll have a high degree of confidence
0:20:03 that you will actually be who you say you are.
0:20:04 And that’s something we’ve been implementing now
0:20:06 for many, many years as are many other states.
0:20:08 And there are states like California
0:20:11 where the Real ID is not a required credentials,
0:20:12 you’re not a must have state.
0:20:14 There are some states that you can only have a Real ID,
0:20:16 but California allows a federally non-compliant card,
0:20:17 as do many other states.
0:20:19 We have a Real ID option.
0:20:22 We have 18, 19 million people that have the Real ID.
0:20:26 So almost majority of people that want to travel,
0:20:28 access federal facilities, have a Real ID.
0:20:31 And that’s gonna be a requirement come up later this summer
0:20:33 to make sure that people get into the airport
0:20:34 with the right credentials.
0:20:36 So TSA, Department of Homeland Security,
0:20:39 is making sure that window of time gets narrowed
0:20:41 so we can actually get everyone who needs to access
0:20:44 an airport or a federal facility has the right credential.
0:20:47 Of course, you can still use a passport, a military ID.
0:20:48 There’s a bunch of other ways to do this,
0:20:51 but a Real ID is certainly something that is easier
0:20:53 because we almost always travel not only with our phone,
0:20:55 but also with our driver’s license.
0:20:58 – So if people in California are listening to this
0:21:01 and they don’t know if they have a Real ID,
0:21:02 don’t you just look at your license
0:21:05 and see if there’s a golden bear on it or not?
0:21:08 – That’s exactly right, very good, very good.
0:21:09 There’s a star for you there.
0:21:11 There’s a bear and a star in the upper right
0:21:12 of the driver’s license.
0:21:14 It’s pretty evident when you just look at the card.
0:21:16 – Okay, I know that now.
0:21:18 So it’s okay, so now you walk in this,
0:21:22 these service levels, 28 minutes to get Real ID,
0:21:23 and you have these internal audits.
0:21:27 Now, what are the phases of when you went through
0:21:29 to improve the situation?
0:21:31 How did you do this?
0:21:33 – I hate to minimize it,
0:21:35 but it was pretty much back to fundamentals, right?
0:21:38 We had to figure out what are our staff doing?
0:21:40 Which tasks are they completing?
0:21:42 Are those tasks we care about?
0:21:43 And we just worked our way down.
0:21:45 You can imagine, created these large Pareto charts
0:21:47 of things that have high volume.
0:21:49 And we looked to figure out how we were attacking those.
0:21:52 You know, the old Boston consultant, two by two grids.
0:21:53 We looked at the volume.
0:21:55 We looked at the ability to execute.
0:21:56 And then we attacked things
0:21:58 that were impediments to success.
0:22:03 For example, having attestations signatures on paper
0:22:05 and printing those copies.
0:22:07 So at the window, you used to walk into the DMV.
0:22:10 We would print your application for you.
0:22:11 We’d slide the application.
0:22:14 There’d be six pages on what’s called now a half sheet.
0:22:16 And it was slide across the counter.
0:22:17 The customer would review them.
0:22:19 They would sign it with a pen, what signature.
0:22:21 They’d slide it back across the counter.
0:22:23 We would then take those at the end of the day.
0:22:25 We’d put those all in an envelope.
0:22:27 We would send them on a journey to Sacramento,
0:22:30 where we would scan them, and then we would dispose them.
0:22:31 It was nuts.
0:22:33 But it was one step in the process.
0:22:35 And we had these tablets that were at the window
0:22:37 that somebody a few years before that had thought,
0:22:40 we’re going to use these for something.
0:22:41 But they never got used.
0:22:43 So my chief digital transformation officer,
0:22:46 a guy that is just an amazing talent,
0:22:48 a Jay Gupta said, why don’t we actually
0:22:50 have the attestation on the tablet?
0:22:51 And people were like, we can’t do that.
0:22:51 Can’t do that.
0:22:53 So we looked at the statute, looked at regulations,
0:22:56 looked at our policy, and found out we actually could do that.
0:22:56 And we did.
0:22:57 We lit those up.
0:22:59 All of a sudden, that paper, those six sheets,
0:23:01 we’d just slide across the counter and bring back,
0:23:05 send to Sacramento, scan, dispose of.
0:23:06 That went to zero.
0:23:07 And because we could.
0:23:09 So we have people that attest online.
0:23:10 And it’s really a thing of beauty.
0:23:11 I don’t know if you’ve seen this guy.
0:23:13 People that have never used a touchscreen before.
0:23:17 And you see them, they’re just like slowly dragging.
0:23:18 But they get it.
0:23:18 They get it.
0:23:19 And it’s a joy.
0:23:20 I don’t want to malign people.
0:23:22 But if people get a little older,
0:23:25 haven’t used as much technology, perhaps as you and I have,
0:23:26 that’s the first time they’ve used a touchscreen.
0:23:28 They’re saying, oh, that’s what that’s about.
0:23:31 And they sign in completely paperless.
0:23:36 And so we’ve gone from tons of paper a week to zero,
0:23:39 no more trips across California to get the headquarters
0:23:41 to be scanned, and so on.
0:23:42 So we’ve reduced our footprint.
0:23:44 We’ve speeded up the process.
0:23:45 We’ve actually made the process better
0:23:48 because it’s digital from day one.
0:23:49 So it’s things like that.
0:23:51 And there’s 1,000 of those.
0:23:53 And that’s just one that you saw at every window
0:23:56 in every driver’s license transaction.
0:23:58 I read a report.
0:24:00 I think it was in the Harvard Business Review
0:24:03 about management by driving around.
0:24:05 So I want to hear about that.
0:24:08 In my days working at Cisco, our CEO at the time
0:24:09 was a guy named John Chambers.
0:24:11 And John Chambers–
0:24:13 I mean, at that level, you’ve got to be a master storyteller.
0:24:15 So he would go off, and he’d be visiting a customer,
0:24:17 he’d come back with a story.
0:24:18 I’d be doing this, and I saw this.
0:24:20 This is what they’re working on.
0:24:22 And he kind of put things in context.
0:24:24 So you’re always taking notes, right?
0:24:26 As you’re rising to your career, so what things
0:24:28 do I need to bring into my portfolio?
0:24:31 So if I ever get to that level so that I will be able to communicate
0:24:34 effectively– and one of the things I pulled from John Chambers
0:24:37 is that he was really good about getting out,
0:24:39 and it was really good about bringing back what he saw
0:24:40 when he was out.
0:24:42 So I made that one of the things I wanted to do,
0:24:44 a deliverable I wanted to do.
0:24:47 Because sometimes when you’re doing the number of changes
0:24:49 we were doing at the time when I first joined,
0:24:51 your staff needs a break from you.
0:24:53 And sometimes you need a break from your staff.
0:24:54 So I would go out on the road.
0:24:56 I would just say, OK, this week I’m going here.
0:24:57 And I would just start driving.
0:25:00 And we have 220-plus offices, 180 field offices,
0:25:02 and a bunch of other offices.
0:25:03 And I would just go hit a reach.
0:25:04 And I did a lot of driving.
0:25:06 My wife came with me.
0:25:08 And I was doing it for two things.
0:25:11 One is I wanted to make sure that I had first-hand knowledge
0:25:12 of what was going on.
0:25:14 I mean, look, you’re not going to have representative view
0:25:16 by spending 15 minutes or 30 minutes in a field office.
0:25:18 But you started building simple relationships.
0:25:20 You started showing that you care.
0:25:22 Many times this was the first time
0:25:26 the staff had ever seen the DMV director, ever.
0:25:29 And then in some cases, when I started to visit him twice,
0:25:30 three times, four times, you’re like, well,
0:25:31 we’ve never seen the director twice.
0:25:33 You start building these little small relationships.
0:25:36 And when you do that, you start seeing things
0:25:37 that you wouldn’t normally see.
0:25:39 And the staff sees you in a different light.
0:25:42 And our call was down in one of the offices in the LA area.
0:25:44 And this woman brought to me this lean release.
0:25:48 So she financed her car, as many people do, JP Morgan.
0:25:49 They’re going through their process.
0:25:51 And she was trying to sell her car to her neighbor,
0:25:52 but couldn’t get the lean release.
0:25:53 It’s just a mess.
0:25:55 It was just those things take time.
0:25:57 But I gave her my card.
0:25:58 I took copies of her material.
0:26:01 I said, look, I’ll be happy to help you and send me an email.
0:26:02 Let’s work on this together.
0:26:04 So I can actually learn more about the lean process.
0:26:06 And the staff got to see that, oh, he’s not
0:26:08 afraid to talk with a customer.
0:26:10 He’s not afraid to reach across the counter.
0:26:11 He’s not afraid to take on work.
0:26:14 And it also encouraged them to say, you can lean in a little bit
0:26:15 more.
0:26:16 We can’t solve all of the problems,
0:26:19 but we can actually help the customer if we lean in
0:26:20 and try to understand stuff.
0:26:21 And I’ve subsequently had discussions
0:26:24 with the large financials, including JPMC,
0:26:26 to understand what is the lean release process?
0:26:29 What can we do to improve it so we can simplify?
0:26:31 Because cars used to be homes where
0:26:33 the number one asset people had.
0:26:35 Nowadays, cars are the number one asset people have.
0:26:38 And so when you make that illiquid because a lean release
0:26:41 takes too long or we’re administratively slow,
0:26:43 whatever it might be, those are opportunities for us
0:26:44 to learn and grow and improve.
0:26:46 And the only way you do that is you
0:26:49 start seeing and feeling the pain that people have when
0:26:54 they’re stuck between immovable forces, government, large bank.
0:26:56 And we want to make sure that, in fact, we can improve things.
0:26:58 And the only way you get to see those things
0:27:00 is you just happen to be in the field office when somebody
0:27:01 brings in that issue.
0:27:03 So that’s what I did.
0:27:03 I went out and drove around.
0:27:05 COVID interrupted it.
0:27:07 Because you don’t want to go out and start driving around
0:27:08 during COVID when people are afraid.
0:27:10 But it was great.
0:27:11 It was great to get out.
0:27:13 And this is a beautiful state, just as a side note.
0:27:15 I love to travel.
0:27:17 I’ve had some good fortune traveling the globe.
0:27:19 And now, all of a sudden, I get to be in all 58 counties first.
0:27:22 I didn’t know there were 58 counties when I started this job.
0:27:23 But I do now.
0:27:24 And I’ve been to all of our offices.
0:27:25 I’ve been to all these places.
0:27:29 And there are some remarkable people all across the state
0:27:30 and some wonderful people.
0:27:32 The people we hire in these communities
0:27:33 are from those communities.
0:27:36 So you get a sense for what the ethic is there,
0:27:37 what the local customs are, our cultures.
0:27:39 And they’re just some wonderful people.
0:27:41 So it’s a win, win, win, win, win for me
0:27:42 to be able to be out in these communities.
0:27:43 It’s fun to have a road trip.
0:27:45 My wife loves to travel with me.
0:27:45 It’s fun stuff.
0:27:52 There should be a reality TV show about your life.
0:27:56 And I can just see this is like Ken Kiesinger, you know?
0:27:57 Oh, my god.
0:27:58 I’m a serious guy, guy.
0:28:00 I like to get out and have fun.
0:28:02 But look, these are people trying to do their jobs.
0:28:04 And I want to show that I respect what they’re doing.
0:28:07 But I want to show that I also care about improving the process,
0:28:08 care about them.
0:28:12 And there’s no reality show.
0:28:13 Well, when I first started, the team was like, OK,
0:28:15 we want to get this entourage.
0:28:17 I was like, no, I travel light.
0:28:18 I travel either by myself.
0:28:19 I travel with my wife.
0:28:21 That’s the extent.
0:28:22 I don’t need any coordination.
0:28:24 I don’t need anybody traveling with me.
0:28:26 I don’t need any advanced staff.
0:28:27 I just show up.
0:28:28 And when I first started, I was polite.
0:28:30 I asked for permission from my field staff.
0:28:31 Hey, I’d like to be over here.
0:28:33 Yeah, OK, that’d be a good time to show up.
0:28:35 Now I just tell people, I’m going out.
0:28:37 I’m going to be in the high desert next week.
0:28:40 Or I’m going to be around the Salton Sea the week after that.
0:28:42 Or I’m going to be in Alturas after that.
0:28:44 I just tell them generally where I’m going to go.
0:28:45 And then, not that I want to surprise anyone,
0:28:48 but I don’t want people to over engineer.
0:28:52 What is really going to be a 15, 20 minute meet and greet
0:28:54 and move on to the next site?
0:28:57 Because it shouldn’t be any more difficult.
0:28:58 Just like your neighbor stopping by, right?
0:29:00 And that’s how it should be.
0:29:03 So just to make this perfectly clear to people,
0:29:07 this wasn’t like a TV series where the CEO goes in
0:29:11 as a customer and disguises as a mystery DMV user.
0:29:13 You went in as a director.
0:29:14 Yeah.
0:29:17 One thing I found early on is that my photo is in every DMV.
0:29:18 I did not know that.
0:29:22 One of my cousins that lived in the Reading area–
0:29:24 I was like three weeks, four weeks, five weeks, whatever it was.
0:29:25 Whatever it takes to get photos out there.
0:29:27 She sends me a photo of my photo on the watch.
0:29:29 She goes, essentially, WTF.
0:29:31 And I was like, so what is that?
0:29:34 She goes, that’s your photo on the field office out in Reading.
0:29:37 I was like, I had no idea.
0:29:38 But so yeah, now I go in.
0:29:39 I go in the front door.
0:29:41 And I talk with the staff.
0:29:42 I talk with the customers.
0:29:43 I go behind the counter.
0:29:44 Of course, they know who I am.
0:29:47 I show them my badge, and she should authenticate everyone.
0:29:50 And yeah, I go in and try to see what’s happening.
0:29:51 And I meet everyone.
0:29:53 I try to say hello to everyone who’s there.
0:29:57 And yeah, no surprise customer, no mystery shop.
0:29:58 Now looking at that a different way,
0:30:00 I do use all of the different channels for our services.
0:30:02 And so I renew my registration.
0:30:04 We have this feature in our IVR.
0:30:05 And so I’ll give that a try.
0:30:07 And in some cases, I’ll record the session,
0:30:10 because I want to give feedback back to my staff about here’s
0:30:10 how it sounds.
0:30:12 Here’s where it’s maybe too fast.
0:30:13 Here’s where it’s too slow.
0:30:14 Here’s where I got in this loop.
0:30:16 It’s all process improvement stuff.
0:30:17 But I try to use every channel we have.
0:30:19 And I try to encourage my senior staff and all
0:30:22 of you, even our line staff, use these services.
0:30:24 Feel how they feel.
0:30:28 Give us feedback so we can actually improve them and so on.
0:30:30 But the only way you do that is you get out and you use them.
0:30:33 And the only way you get to see what’s happening,
0:30:34 if you will, in the wild with our customers,
0:30:36 is you stand in a field office.
0:30:38 You talk with people.
0:30:42 The next time you go to Watsonville or Capitola,
0:30:43 I want you to tell me.
0:30:44 I want to go in with you.
0:30:47 I want to see you do this.
0:30:48 That would be so fun.
0:30:50 Yeah, no, I’m happy to do it.
0:30:51 But it’s less exciting than you think.
0:30:52 I’m there and I’m in and out.
0:30:54 Well, it’s only 20 minutes.
0:30:55 Right, I’m in and out.
0:30:55 15, 20 minutes.
0:30:58 I make sure I make a point of saying hello to everyone,
0:31:00 including like there are examiners that are doing drive tests.
0:31:02 I try to catch them in between drive tests,
0:31:03 because they’re on the road.
0:31:05 They rarely get a chance to see anyone.
0:31:08 And I just want to make sure I don’t make a big deal out of it.
0:31:09 But at the same time, I want to make sure
0:31:11 I have a chance to meet everyone.
0:31:13 And that way, you know, encourage them.
0:31:14 If they see something and there are
0:31:17 a few that take me up on this offer, they’ll send me an email
0:31:19 and they’ll say, hey, I saw this or I saw that.
0:31:21 And then we’ll go through a discussion about how do you
0:31:22 collect data?
0:31:27 There was one in Reedley, which is this town outside of Fresno.
0:31:30 She was this manager, wonderful, very curious,
0:31:32 was writing me about, oh, we see a lot of this.
0:31:34 And I’m in and I hear a lot.
0:31:36 I say, well, quantify a lot.
0:31:38 And so I said, here’s how you might quantify it.
0:31:40 So I taught her how to quantify.
0:31:41 I grabbed some data on the back end
0:31:42 that maybe she wouldn’t have asked to.
0:31:43 I shared with her.
0:31:46 Here’s what I think is happening across the state.
0:31:48 And sure enough, she validated that her allot
0:31:50 was maybe two items a week.
0:31:52 I said, so instead of us focusing on those, important.
0:31:54 But let’s focus on something that’s bigger.
0:31:55 So I gave her some examples.
0:31:58 And but it’s how you teach people.
0:32:01 First, I taught her to reach out to me, taught her to engage,
0:32:02 taught her about how we’re thinking about data,
0:32:05 caused me to think about something I wasn’t thinking about.
0:32:07 And now she’s better at doing analysis.
0:32:08 And that’s up and down.
0:32:10 There’s a data entry clerk here.
0:32:12 Her name is Catherine.
0:32:14 Took me up on this offer months ago.
0:32:17 And she is in this repetitive job
0:32:20 where she sees all these same form over and over again.
0:32:22 Her job is to do error correction
0:32:24 and finish the data entry.
0:32:26 And so she wrote me and she had this long story
0:32:30 about this address and not populating correctly.
0:32:32 And I said, I’ll come right down.
0:32:34 I thought, OK, there’s no way she’s
0:32:36 going to have any data on the thing.
0:32:39 I show up and she’s like this serious woman.
0:32:41 And she’s seeing thousands of these things.
0:32:43 She pulls up her examples.
0:32:44 She walked me through a current.
0:32:46 She saved one of them for me.
0:32:49 She walked me through, this is where the problem is.
0:32:51 And when you do this and sure enough, she was spot on.
0:32:55 And she says, the management team would not fix this.
0:32:57 I said, I’ll get that fixed.
0:32:58 But she had evidence.
0:33:00 She was waiting for this moment.
0:33:01 It doesn’t get any better than that
0:33:03 because she was prepared.
0:33:07 She had data and she had a real problem and she was stuck.
0:33:09 So that was fantastic.
0:33:11 So when Catherine writes me now, I pop right down and say,
0:33:13 show me that again and we get it fixed.
0:33:15 And matter of fact, her team is now much more responsive
0:33:18 because Catherine brings facts.
0:33:20 Doesn’t get any better than that.
0:33:21 What office is this?
0:33:22 This is a headquarters.
0:33:24 This is a person who does data entry at headquarters.
0:33:27 We process a lot of mail and she’s
0:33:29 the choke point for certain forms.
0:33:33 And she is the expert because she sees thousands of them
0:33:35 and she’s attentive.
0:33:38 So coming from Cisco, now, I wouldn’t
0:33:41 put Cisco in that same class of companies
0:33:45 as like Facebook and Meta and PayPal, Mafia, et cetera,
0:33:45 et cetera.
0:33:51 But what’s the similarities and differences in management
0:33:54 in this kind of Silicon Valley tech company
0:33:59 and then going to a public service company, State
0:33:59 of California?
0:34:01 Like, what’s the differences?
0:34:03 What’s the transition like for you?
0:34:05 First, I was on the services side of Cisco.
0:34:07 So even though I’m trained as an accountant,
0:34:10 I was in technology support.
0:34:12 I learned TCP/IP protocol.
0:34:13 I learned how all that stuff works.
0:34:15 I was surrounded by a bunch of people
0:34:17 who are MSCEs and BSEs.
0:34:20 Our COO, a guy who’s our chief deputy at Swanson,
0:34:23 has got a couple degrees, a graduate degree
0:34:24 in electrical engineering from Stanford.
0:34:26 So these are people that actually
0:34:27 know what electricity does.
0:34:29 I know electricity does something.
0:34:30 I can’t tell you why it does it,
0:34:31 but I understood protocols and so on.
0:34:33 So anyway, most of my experience from Cisco
0:34:35 was on the services side.
0:34:37 And then I had this acquisition tuck-in role later
0:34:38 on in my career.
0:34:40 So it was kind of business-driven.
0:34:43 And in those roles, you became very focused on operations
0:34:45 and you had to figure out what’s the right order of things.
0:34:47 I developed some great relationships.
0:34:49 A guy named Mike Zill, who’s still a good friend of mine.
0:34:52 He’s a big thinker, but he’s also a manufacturing process guy.
0:34:54 So he taught me about the whole basics
0:34:57 of how do we make sure we get cost-quality cycle time
0:35:01 and get things into the hopper and through the system,
0:35:04 first-pass yields and first-time that sort of stuff.
0:35:07 And so I had a number of people that were helping me understand
0:35:09 the impact that a product could have on a customer.
0:35:11 A guy who wrote to me last week– he
0:35:14 was in one of our DMVs down in San Jose, Maliki Moynihan, who
0:35:16 was our chief of engineering at Linksys
0:35:20 when Cisco acquired Linksys, was stuck trying to register a car
0:35:22 when our field offices, our systems were having a glitch.
0:35:24 So he was tech to be like, what’s going on?
0:35:25 Should I wait? Should I go?
0:35:26 But he’s another guy who taught me
0:35:29 how to think about when a product had a defect,
0:35:32 the downstream impact, the impact on a customer,
0:35:34 the impact on the channel it was in.
0:35:36 And so all of those things played a role
0:35:38 in helping you think about the business you’re in,
0:35:41 thinking about the quality of the product you’re producing,
0:35:43 making sure people can get through that process
0:35:44 in the first pass.
0:35:46 So regardless of whether you’re at Facebook, you’re at Cisco,
0:35:49 wherever you are in that technology lifecycle,
0:35:51 there’s a lot of that that’s the same.
0:35:53 And you’re just using best practices.
0:35:56 I was fortunate to be surrounded by people with advanced
0:36:00 degrees, good universities, good colleges, good thinkers,
0:36:01 good experience.
0:36:03 And I pulled from all of those people.
0:36:04 And they’ve been very generous with their time
0:36:07 to help us improve my skills and help us now apply those
0:36:09 to the state of California.
0:36:11 Now, it seems to me that, yeah, you
0:36:13 can say there’s a lot of similarity,
0:36:16 but correct me if I’m wrong.
0:36:20 But it seems like your ability to motivate people
0:36:23 with raises and RSOs or stock options,
0:36:26 that’s not on the table at the California DMV, right?
0:36:29 So what do you do to motivate people?
0:36:30 Yeah.
0:36:33 Because the Silicon Valley way is always about stock options.
0:36:34 Yeah, it’s tricky.
0:36:36 I’m sure some of your other guests
0:36:37 might be better skilled here academically
0:36:39 about which buttons to push.
0:36:42 I’ve never been strictly a financially motivated guy.
0:36:45 Some of my peers were like, they were focused on the RSO,
0:36:48 or they’re focused on when their options were going to invest.
0:36:50 Never was my particular focus.
0:36:51 Obviously, you want to be well compensated.
0:36:54 At the same time, you want to make sure you’re on a mission.
0:36:55 That’s the highest level thing, right?
0:36:56 You’re on this mission.
0:36:57 You feel you can make an impact.
0:37:00 And by and large, I think the people that are on my staff
0:37:03 have the front line to the top line.
0:37:05 They think they’re making a difference.
0:37:06 And they are making a difference.
0:37:08 I was out in Palm Springs last week.
0:37:11 And there is a woman in Palm Springs named Tamika.
0:37:12 I forgot Tamika’s last name.
0:37:13 Sorry, Tamika.
0:37:15 But she had been a recent recipient
0:37:18 at this agency that were part of the Transportation Agency.
0:37:20 Within the state, we recognized her across the state
0:37:23 as someone who really was making a difference in people’s lives.
0:37:23 You meet her.
0:37:25 She just lights up the room.
0:37:29 And she’s doing the intake at the field office in Palm Springs.
0:37:31 She’s your first point of contact.
0:37:32 And she’s on that mission.
0:37:34 And she’s making people’s lives better.
0:37:37 One customer at a time, getting them the right feedback,
0:37:39 a smile on her face, a can-do attitude.
0:37:42 And that raises– that office performs better
0:37:44 than it’s adjacent office.
0:37:46 And I attribute some of that to Tamika
0:37:48 because that one person can make a difference.
0:37:51 So anyway, you talked about stock options and compensation.
0:37:53 We do not have those levers here in government.
0:37:54 But we are mission-driven.
0:37:57 And I think having people like a Tamika or even people
0:37:59 like some of my senior staff who are on this mission
0:38:01 are trying to remove roadblocks, things
0:38:03 that we’ve all been taught to do in Silicon Valley,
0:38:06 taking obstacles out of the way.
0:38:08 I think people see that, in fact, we understand that.
0:38:09 And we’re willing to do that.
0:38:11 We’re willing to invest political capital behind that.
0:38:13 And we’re making their job simpler.
0:38:16 We’re making the customer’s journey easier.
0:38:19 And that’s good for everyone, even if you’re not
0:38:22 doing it because of a direct financial motivation.
0:38:26 And if I were to see Tamika or call Tamika and say,
0:38:29 “Tamika, what is your mission at the DMV?
0:38:30 What would she say?
0:38:32 What’s the mission?”
0:38:32 That’s a great question.
0:38:34 I don’t know what Tamika would say.
0:38:35 But I certainly suspect she would say
0:38:39 that she’s there because she loves helping people.
0:38:41 And I think about when we think about the mission of the DMV,
0:38:43 that gets a little muddy.
0:38:45 We are a tax-collecting organization.
0:38:47 But we should be the best.
0:38:50 And I try to remind my staff that when
0:38:53 we’re buying an online service or even a retail service,
0:38:55 we should be thinking about the best of the best.
0:38:57 We should not be benchmarked within,
0:38:58 as they call it, the tallest pygmy.
0:39:01 We should not segment ourselves into a small little group
0:39:03 and be the best government agency
0:39:04 with a left-handed leader.
0:39:05 No, that’s crazy.
0:39:07 We should be looking at what does an Amazon do?
0:39:10 JPMC, when you have the highest credit card,
0:39:12 when you’re about to lose that credit business,
0:39:13 you should be thinking about what
0:39:15 do they do to lean in to make sure they don’t lose you
0:39:15 as customers?
0:39:17 We have to aspire to that level.
0:39:19 That means our services have to work.
0:39:20 They have to be easy.
0:39:22 They have to be intuitive.
0:39:23 And when people want to pay us money,
0:39:25 we should help them pay us money.
0:39:27 We should not make it hard for them.
0:39:28 And sometimes we do.
0:39:29 So we have a lot of room to grow there.
0:39:31 But I think that’s the mission we’re on.
0:39:34 It’s just making sure that participating in society
0:39:36 in California, getting your driver’s license,
0:39:38 registering your vehicle, trying to be compliant.
0:39:39 That should be easy.
0:39:42 We should assume that people are trying to help themselves
0:39:43 and trying to help us.
0:39:44 And we need to make it easy.
0:39:46 And we should just realize that the comparator
0:39:48 in the marketplace is Amazon.
0:39:49 So I talked to my staff and I asked
0:39:52 what anybody ordered anything from Amazon over the holidays.
0:39:54 And every hand goes up and says, so when you’re thinking
0:39:57 that the DMV or government should be different,
0:39:59 I said, no, we should be good as what we’re trying to do
0:39:59 as they are.
0:40:01 We should make the products are on the shelf.
0:40:02 We should know what they want to buy.
0:40:04 We should make it easy to put it in the car.
0:40:05 We should make it easy to pay.
0:40:08 And again, we have some room to go there.
0:40:09 But that’s the direction we’re headed.
0:40:11 Up next on Remarkable People.
0:40:14 These are federal roads that they allow California
0:40:18 and other states to give certain privileges to ATOVs.
0:40:20 So we have to go and have the federal administration,
0:40:22 I’m not sure if it’s federal highways
0:40:23 or I think it’s federal highways.
0:40:25 This is their program that they allow California
0:40:27 to allow people into the ATOV lane.
0:40:29 We give a sticker as a result of that
0:40:30 so we can identify those vehicles
0:40:34 and make sure they qualify for emissions and so on.
0:40:36 So the reason that it only is good to September,
0:40:38 that is the end of the federal fiscal year.
0:40:39 So we’re waiting right now to find out
0:40:42 if the federal government is going to continue to extend
0:40:45 that for the next year or the years past that.
0:40:48 But at this point, September 30th of this calendar year
0:40:50 is the last time you’ll be able to use an ATOV sticker
0:40:51 in California.
0:41:05 – Thank you to all our regular podcast listeners.
0:41:08 It’s our pleasure and honor to make the show for you.
0:41:10 If you find our show valuable,
0:41:12 please do us a favor and subscribe,
0:41:13 rate and review it.
0:41:16 Even better, forward it to a friend,
0:41:18 a big mahalo to you for doing this.
0:41:22 – You’re listening to “Remarkable People”
0:41:23 with Guy Kawasaki.
0:41:26 – I gotta say,
0:41:29 I am just having the time of my life in this interview
0:41:31 and I don’t say that quite often.
0:41:33 Madison can attest to that.
0:41:37 The innovation that I discovered with the DMV
0:41:39 that when I first saw it,
0:41:42 I said, man, like what made them do this?
0:41:44 This is so interesting.
0:41:48 It’s this thing that you can get your number
0:41:52 for your appointment before you get to the DMV.
0:41:54 So you can get that number in advance.
0:41:56 So when you get to the DMV,
0:41:59 there’s already been progress in the queue.
0:42:03 So I wanna know, how did that idea come to be?
0:42:05 – It’s like calling up Baskin Robbins and say,
0:42:07 all right, give me your ticket now
0:42:09 and I’m gonna drive down there in 15 minutes
0:42:12 and I’ll be served 30 seconds later.
0:42:14 – I think some of us came from just our experiences
0:42:16 outside of the office.
0:42:18 Yelp allows you to do that like one of the local restaurants
0:42:21 where it’s a Thai place by my place in San Jose
0:42:23 and they would allow you to put yourself in line.
0:42:25 So part of what’s just that lived experience that I had,
0:42:27 but wasn’t my idea.
0:42:28 We went to our vendor,
0:42:29 this company called QMatic and I said,
0:42:31 hey, so how does this work?
0:42:32 They said, oh yeah, we have this feature.
0:42:34 You guys didn’t wanna use it.
0:42:35 I said, so how does it work?
0:42:37 I said, they told me yet, just give your email address,
0:42:39 put your phone in there, get your name
0:42:41 and we’ll drop you online.
0:42:43 So many of these companies have these features.
0:42:46 We just didn’t understand exactly how to use them
0:42:47 and the role they would play.
0:42:49 And that’s actually an underutilized feature today,
0:42:51 the get in line feature.
0:42:52 I love it too.
0:42:53 The first time I used it, by the time I got there,
0:42:56 I was late and I was just doing it from the office
0:42:58 and our nearest office is like a mile of the road.
0:43:00 But it’s a really great way to allow customers
0:43:03 to remove the long wait in the parking lot
0:43:05 and just know that they’ve got a place.
0:43:06 They can see the number being called,
0:43:08 as it tells you where you are in line.
0:43:09 I think it’s a great feature.
0:43:11 And it was already in the product,
0:43:14 but the idea I saw it being used was at Yelp.
0:43:16 We actually contacted Yelp
0:43:18 and the advantage of being the director of the DMV.
0:43:19 When you contact people, they’re saying,
0:43:21 oh my God, I did something wrong, my driver’s license.
0:43:22 People call you back.
0:43:24 You go through the investor relations door, right?
0:43:25 That’s that door.
0:43:26 People are responsive when you come in
0:43:27 through the investor relations.
0:43:30 And you get a lot of feedback from these other industries
0:43:31 about what they’re doing, how they’re doing it.
0:43:32 So we incorporated that.
0:43:33 It was in the product already,
0:43:36 so I don’t get any credit for inventing it.
0:43:38 But I just recognize I’ve been using that product
0:43:40 via Yelp for this local type place
0:43:41 because it was this easier to get in line
0:43:44 as I walked over there from my house in San Jose.
0:43:45 – And wait, I’m just curious,
0:43:47 not that I’ve never done this,
0:43:49 but what happens if you get there
0:43:50 and your number’s been called?
0:43:53 – The team will then put you at the top of the list.
0:43:55 – Okay.
0:43:56 So there’s no downside.
0:43:58 – There’s very little downside.
0:44:00 – Okay, it’s good to know.
0:44:01 I got a lot of questions.
0:44:04 I’m fascinated by your business, okay?
0:44:05 I’m sorry.
0:44:06 – You gotta come volunteer some time here.
0:44:09 We could use some guy in the business.
0:44:09 – Sign me up.
0:44:11 I’ll go get training from Tamika
0:44:15 and Madison and I will staff the Capitola office.
0:44:16 – We would probably just be happy
0:44:18 if you help us think about some of our bigger problems.
0:44:20 But if you wanna work at retail,
0:44:21 we’re happy to put you at a window.
0:44:25 – So I wanna know,
0:44:30 why does the DMV register every car every year?
0:44:32 Like I know there are 10 states
0:44:34 that do every two years.
0:44:37 I know Delaware is a permanent registration.
0:44:40 Like I have six people in my family.
0:44:43 That means at some point I own four cars or something.
0:44:45 And I’m always filling out forms.
0:44:48 I’m always worried that I missed the deadline,
0:44:49 that I’m get the penalty.
0:44:51 Can’t I register for a longer time?
0:44:53 – Yeah, so I think there’s two issues there.
0:44:57 One is that we’ve just launched a few months ago
0:44:58 the concept of a garage.
0:45:00 So you can put your vehicles in the garage.
0:45:02 Now we’ve launched, you can cash your credit card.
0:45:04 So again, these are just commercial services
0:45:06 that all of us see at Amazon
0:45:08 or wherever we might shop online.
0:45:10 And then the next thing would be is to set them up
0:45:11 for auto payment.
0:45:13 So you will never be late again.
0:45:16 But California’s law is that we do it on an annual basis.
0:45:18 I’m not sure if that’s a budgetary thing,
0:45:19 a cash flow thing,
0:45:21 but I agree with you that if you did them
0:45:22 two years at a time or whatever,
0:45:26 I think the concern I hear and this is anecdotal
0:45:27 that well, if you register for two years,
0:45:28 you should sell your car.
0:45:29 Now you have to deal with the,
0:45:31 I’ve got to unwind that transaction.
0:45:33 They didn’t drive it for the second year.
0:45:35 I’ve got to give refunds and give me money back refunds.
0:45:37 It’s just a convoluted process.
0:45:39 There’s a lot of controls around that.
0:45:41 So it’s fixed at one year.
0:45:42 But we want to make that one year
0:45:45 so that it’s easy so you can just put it on auto pay
0:45:46 and like everything else in life.
0:45:47 Got to remember to take things off auto pay
0:45:49 when you don’t want them anymore.
0:45:51 But that’s where we’re going.
0:45:53 I tried.
0:45:54 Sorry.
0:45:58 Okay, now another question I’m curious about is,
0:46:01 ’cause I can’t remember is donating your organs,
0:46:03 is it opt in or opt out?
0:46:05 It is opt in.
0:46:08 Why can’t you make it opt out?
0:46:09 Good question.
0:46:11 That’s a statutory issue.
0:46:13 I’m on the administration side of that.
0:46:16 If the legislature wants it to be opt out,
0:46:18 they can certainly write a bill
0:46:20 and we will then adhere to that bill.
0:46:23 We don’t make the rules, we just operate within them.
0:46:27 But I think social psychology has proven
0:46:32 that if it’s opt out, you’ll get like 90% opting
0:46:35 or not opting in because you can’t opt in.
0:46:38 But 90% of people would donate their organs
0:46:39 if it was opt out, right?
0:46:41 I’m sure donate life in California
0:46:43 would be happy to have that.
0:46:45 I’m sure they’re probably working on some legislation
0:46:47 in that area, but it’s not there today.
0:46:51 – Okay, what’s the relationship with business partners
0:46:54 like AAA and I understood the AAA business partner,
0:46:59 but then I saw that there’s insurance brokers and stuff.
0:47:00 Did AAA come to you and say,
0:47:03 please let us do some of this or did you go to AAA
0:47:06 and say, take some of the load off of us?
0:47:09 – No, it predates me, but what I’ve heard
0:47:13 and I believe this is true that AAA back in the day,
0:47:16 a hundred and some years ago, used to be the DMV.
0:47:19 And then the state said,
0:47:21 actually we wanna take over that responsibility,
0:47:24 but AAA is then because of that past relationship.
0:47:25 And again, you have to Google this,
0:47:28 but we’ve been in business for 115, 117 years.
0:47:30 And so before that AAA,
0:47:32 the automobile association was the place
0:47:33 you had vehicles registered.
0:47:35 Now, we should check this.
0:47:37 I’m sure your audience is gonna fact this,
0:47:38 but I believe that to be true.
0:47:41 And so they have a special relationship with us.
0:47:43 And so we extend our systems into AAA.
0:47:45 So they have a special relationship
0:47:48 that they are part of us and they can do transactions
0:47:52 in a unique way and there’s no uplift on what they charge.
0:47:54 At some point over the past number of years,
0:47:57 there’s this business partner program
0:47:59 that has grown inside of California.
0:48:00 And there’s a couple of levels,
0:48:02 but at the retail level,
0:48:05 which are talking about insurance companies, small shops,
0:48:06 you see them around every corner.
0:48:09 And there’s 6,000 plus retail sites.
0:48:13 There’s a belief that having those services in the community
0:48:14 is a good thing.
0:48:16 People are more likely to consume a service
0:48:17 if it’s within their community.
0:48:20 And there’s some evidence to say that’s true.
0:48:21 By and large though,
0:48:24 that the people that are probably doing the most with this
0:48:25 are some of the online retailers.
0:48:29 And that’s a bit tricky because they charge an uplift
0:48:31 for the service in this business partner program.
0:48:33 And if you’re not careful for the same service,
0:48:37 you can get at retail price, no uplift from us,
0:48:41 vehicle registration, you’re paying that same fee
0:48:44 and then you’re paying a $39 uplift.
0:48:45 And that infuriates some folks
0:48:48 ’cause they’re listed as a partner.
0:48:49 The people missed the point
0:48:51 that they didn’t need to go down that road to get that done.
0:48:54 But anyway, there’s 6,000 plus of those across the state.
0:48:56 There’s a few large online retailers.
0:48:57 And then on top of that,
0:48:59 there’s this first line service providers.
0:49:01 Think about it as a two tier distribution model.
0:49:03 The first line partners, there are five of them.
0:49:06 And those people actually then license all the people
0:49:07 that are underneath them.
0:49:09 And California is unique in the sense that
0:49:11 the people that are actually in that channel,
0:49:13 dealers are part of that channel.
0:49:15 If you’re a franchise new car dealer in California,
0:49:18 you are required to do an e-report of sale,
0:49:19 electronic report of sale.
0:49:20 And you’re required to use
0:49:23 one of those first line service providers to do it.
0:49:25 And ’cause we wanna make sure the forms come into us,
0:49:27 they come in right and so on.
0:49:30 And so you see those fees listed out when you buy a car.
0:49:33 And at the next level, if you’re a used car dealer,
0:49:36 but you’re also required to participate in those systems,
0:49:37 but in a different way.
0:49:40 We want all those documents coming to us electronically.
0:49:42 So that distribution model works
0:49:44 and it’s cut a lot of different facets to it.
0:49:46 But at the retail level, the insurance shop,
0:49:47 the smog shops and so on.
0:49:50 Yeah, that’s just brick and mortar additional services
0:49:53 that have been enabled across the state
0:49:54 and are used in local communities.
0:49:56 ‘Cause sometimes that’s where you can speak
0:49:59 a certain language, although we support 36 languages.
0:50:01 It’s a complicated world guy.
0:50:04 – Okay, Steve, now, if you thought I was being tactical
0:50:06 before, I’m gonna get a really tactical,
0:50:08 ’cause I am very curious.
0:50:09 – Look at the time.
0:50:10 No, no.
0:50:11 (laughs)
0:50:14 Okay, these are gonna be quick and easy questions, okay?
0:50:16 But stuff I’m wondering about.
0:50:18 And I bet a lot of people are, okay?
0:50:21 So I want to know if you understand
0:50:26 how the HOV FastPass pricing on Highway 101
0:50:29 in San Mateo County works.
0:50:32 Because I have been in that lane
0:50:36 and that lane says HOV two or more.
0:50:38 FastPass required.
0:50:42 FastPass is from three to six p.m.
0:50:45 Except if you have an HOV or something.
0:50:48 I am driving along at, of course, I’m going speed limit,
0:50:51 but I am driving along in my plug-in hybrid car.
0:50:54 And for the life of me, I cannot figure
0:50:57 if I’m gonna be pulled over or not.
0:50:58 Do you know how that works?
0:51:01 – No, I read those signs too and say, I have no idea.
0:51:02 So I look for the next signposts
0:51:03 and see if I can figure it out piece by piece.
0:51:07 But I’m like you, it’s unclear what’s categorized
0:51:08 in the three or plus, two plus,
0:51:10 spend of where you are in the state as well.
0:51:12 So unfortunately, I’ll kick that over to our friends
0:51:15 at Caltrans and to the State Transportation Commission.
0:51:17 – Okay, fair enough, fair enough.
0:51:18 All right, I can’t figure that out.
0:51:18 Sorry.
0:51:21 – Okay, see you are honest.
0:51:26 All right, so now I have a plug-in hybrid
0:51:28 and I found out to my surprise
0:51:30 that I can get an HOV sticker,
0:51:32 but it expires in September.
0:51:37 So why are there short-term HOV stickers for some models?
0:51:38 – Well, they’re not short-term.
0:51:40 They mirror the federal fiscal year.
0:51:42 That’s why they end at September 30th.
0:51:44 And it’s a federal law.
0:51:47 These are federal roads that they allow California
0:51:50 and other states to give certain privileges to HOVs.
0:51:53 So we have to go and have the federal administration,
0:51:54 I’m not sure if it’s federal highways or NITS,
0:51:56 I think it’s federal highways.
0:51:58 This is their program that they allow California
0:52:00 to allow people into the HOV lane.
0:52:01 We give a sticker as a result of that
0:52:02 so we can identify those vehicles
0:52:06 and make sure they qualify for emissions and so on.
0:52:08 So the reason that it only is good to September,
0:52:10 that is the end of the federal fiscal year.
0:52:12 So we’re waiting right now to find out
0:52:13 if the federal government is going to continue
0:52:17 to extend that for the next year or the years past that.
0:52:20 But at this point, September 30th of this calendar year
0:52:23 is the last time you’ll be able to use an HOV sticker
0:52:25 in California at all without–
0:52:25 – Any car.
0:52:28 – Without federal, without a change in federal rules.
0:52:29 Yes.
0:52:31 – Wow.
0:52:34 I’m sure there’s some 19-year-old undergraduate
0:52:35 who’s looking into that for us.
0:52:40 So next question is I have the app wallet MDL
0:52:45 and I don’t quite understand.
0:52:47 If I get pulled over by the CHEP
0:52:49 and I don’t have my physical license,
0:52:51 can I just show my phone?
0:52:52 Is it good enough for that?
0:52:55 – Yeah, law enforcement has not updated processes
0:52:58 to consume the MDL and a lot of places haven’t.
0:53:00 So I’ve been working with my counterpart,
0:53:01 the commissioner of the CHP,
0:53:03 and I think he’s looking to figure out
0:53:05 how do we make vehicle stops more efficient,
0:53:08 more effective, safer for the officer
0:53:10 and for the passengers and the vehicle.
0:53:12 And, but this sort of change takes time.
0:53:15 So we’re just getting TSA to be able to take
0:53:16 the MDL at the airport.
0:53:18 I was just at Sacramento Airport just last week.
0:53:20 They’re announcing the next tranche of airports
0:53:23 that will take a mobile driver’s license.
0:53:24 California is the only state
0:53:26 that also uses a different technology.
0:53:28 So we have the ISO standard,
0:53:30 which is what you’ll see in the MDL at the airports.
0:53:33 And there’s a verifyable credential W3C standard
0:53:35 that allows us to be able to have something
0:53:37 that could be used, not only on websites
0:53:39 for web purchases, but also in retail.
0:53:41 And so we’re working with a company called TrueAge,
0:53:44 which represents these convenience stores
0:53:46 and to be able to consume the mobile driver’s license
0:53:47 at convenience stores.
0:53:49 So it’s an emerging technology guy
0:53:51 and law enforcement is going to get there.
0:53:53 And we’re working with law enforcement.
0:53:54 I have a chance.
0:53:55 I get to know the commissioner
0:53:57 of the California Habitorial, Sean Dury,
0:54:00 marvelous guy and he wants to modernize this thing.
0:54:01 And we’re working with him to do that.
0:54:03 So you can actually have the engagement.
0:54:04 They can have a safe transaction.
0:54:07 They can pre-fill some forms if you’re going to get a citation.
0:54:09 So that day is coming, but it’s not coming today.
0:54:12 – Okay, so the bottom line is carry your physical license.
0:54:14 – You need to carry your physical license.
0:54:15 Yes. – Okay.
0:54:19 Now this question, I only have two more.
0:54:24 This question I’m asking for a friend, all right?
0:54:29 So I know that if you flunk the driving test twice,
0:54:30 and if you flunk it again,
0:54:33 you got to start all over with the permit process.
0:54:36 At least, I think that’s still true, right?
0:54:40 What happens if my friend takes his kid
0:54:45 and they go to the DMV and they watch the route
0:54:48 that the test goes on, they follow a test driver
0:54:50 and they say, okay, so now we know exactly
0:54:52 which route that person is taking.
0:54:55 So when you go for your driver’s test,
0:54:57 we’re going to practice on that route.
0:54:58 Is that legal?
0:55:02 – I’m sure this friend has been to one of the driving schools
0:55:04 so that’s one of the requirements for first-time drivers.
0:55:07 Those driving schools know the routes the DMV takes,
0:55:09 but that doesn’t mean you’re going to pass the test.
0:55:10 So I think it’s, yeah, it’s certainly legal to do that.
0:55:11 I wouldn’t encourage you to do that,
0:55:13 drive safely at the right distance.
0:55:15 But the net of it is you still have to drive.
0:55:18 My son, we were living in San Jose at the time,
0:55:21 he took his at the Las Gatos office
0:55:22 and he pulls out the parking lot
0:55:25 and there’s a truck that is unloading
0:55:27 in the middle of the street.
0:55:29 Even if he knew the route, which he did not,
0:55:30 you have to be able to handle this obstacle
0:55:32 that was in the middle of the road that,
0:55:35 do I go to the right, do I go to the left, do I wait?
0:55:37 So there are those things.
0:55:39 And that’s why people, I think, they’re challenged.
0:55:41 You have to be able to know how to stop, how to navigate.
0:55:43 Even if you know the route, it doesn’t really matter.
0:55:46 You still have to know how to get around the block
0:55:47 and down the street.
0:55:52 – All right, because this friend used this story in a book
0:55:57 to illustrate the concept that there’s always a way
0:55:59 to prepare for tests.
0:56:01 And if you can figure out a way to prepare for tests,
0:56:03 you can do better on the test.
0:56:07 And when this friend wrote this story in his book,
0:56:10 some people read that and said, in New York,
0:56:15 it’s illegal to follow an exam to learn the routes.
0:56:19 So I’m just asking for this friend who lives in California,
0:56:20 if it’s illegal here.
0:56:22 – Yeah, I don’t think it’s illegal.
0:56:23 I don’t know if it’s wise to do that.
0:56:24 Focus on the fundamentals.
0:56:25 That’s what I did with my son,
0:56:28 make sure he had enough reps and enough things.
0:56:29 That’s where you should spend your time.
0:56:32 – Okay, this is my last question.
0:56:35 My last question is,
0:56:38 I applied for personalized play three months ago.
0:56:40 Can you check if it’s done yet?
0:56:41 – Sure.
0:56:43 (laughing)
0:56:46 – I’m gonna call up Tamika and say,
0:56:48 “Tamika, can you please help me?”
0:56:51 – She would love that phone call, by the way.
0:56:53 Personalized Plates is a couple of things, right?
0:56:55 So we’ve changed the way we do personalized plates,
0:56:56 where we have an AI agent now
0:57:00 that helps us validate if the plate’s gonna be offensive.
0:57:02 And there’s no shortage of things that are offensive,
0:57:05 that are clear, edge cases.
0:57:06 And then from there, there’s a manufacturing process,
0:57:09 ’cause each one of these things requires a special stamping,
0:57:10 and that takes some time,
0:57:12 but it shouldn’t take any longer than that 90 days.
0:57:16 So off the air, you can outsource to Madison
0:57:18 and shoot me the VIN,
0:57:20 and then I’ll take a look at where it is.
0:57:21 – Wait, are you telling me
0:57:25 that it’s not somebody in Soledad who’s making my plates?
0:57:27 It’s not a prison thing, that’s a myth.
0:57:29 – No, no, no, no, it’s not Soledad, but it’s in Folsom,
0:57:30 and it is not a myth.
0:57:33 There are stamping machines, and there’s-
0:57:34 – In Folsom Prison.
0:57:35 – Yeah, I’ve been there.
0:57:36 It’s prisons, by the way,
0:57:37 if you’ve never been inside of a prison,
0:57:40 they’re pretty depressing, so let’s start there.
0:57:43 But there’s a team of folks that are part of the production
0:57:44 line that actually stamp plates,
0:57:46 and they do a great job,
0:57:47 and it just still takes a little while.
0:57:49 Plates are stamped in California,
0:57:52 and it’s a very sophisticated process,
0:57:54 but it’s also done inside the prison,
0:57:58 so if there’s a problem, your supply chain could be disrupted.
0:58:02 – I have visited San Quentin twice, and I gotta tell you,
0:58:04 I’ve been scared a few times in my life,
0:58:08 but man, just walking through the prison,
0:58:12 it’s truly a myth, just like the wire, man.
0:58:15 I was scared shitless the whole time.
0:58:17 – Yeah, yeah, I would encourage you to stay out of prison.
0:58:19 But again, off the air,
0:58:21 shoot me the vehicle identification number, the VIN,
0:58:23 and we’ll take a look, tell you where it is.
0:58:25 90 days is probably right in the window,
0:58:27 because it just takes time to get that into queue.
0:58:28 It’s a special one-off process.
0:58:30 We got our sequential plates that are cranking through,
0:58:32 so they gotta stop that line to do,
0:58:34 oh, this is Guy Kawasaki’s plate.
0:58:37 I mean, with reverence, there’s probably some incense,
0:58:38 or whatever we do.
0:58:39 No, I’m kidding.
0:58:40 There’s no incense.
0:58:43 – Well, Steve Gordon,
0:58:46 this has been a most enjoyable episode, and thank you.
0:58:47 Besides all the humor,
0:58:49 there’s some very important lessons
0:58:52 about the professionalism of your organization,
0:58:55 how you manage by driving around,
0:58:58 and how these people have a mission,
0:59:00 they are proud of what they do,
0:59:04 and like for the 15th time, just let me tell you,
0:59:06 I really love the California DMV.
0:59:07 – Great, Guy, thanks for having me on,
0:59:09 and thanks for helping promote our services,
0:59:11 we really appreciate it.
0:59:12 – All right, and I’m serious.
0:59:16 If you ever want evangelism advice, I’m here for you.
0:59:17 – I’m gonna take you up on it.
0:59:18 Next time I’m down in the Capitola era,
0:59:19 I’m gonna call you up as well.
0:59:21 We’re gonna see if you’ll show up.
0:59:22 – We’ll see.
0:59:26 – I’ll greet you at the DMV.
0:59:27 – That would be great, I look forward to that.
0:59:30 – So, this was Steve Gordon, California DMV,
0:59:33 and I hope you enjoyed this episode,
0:59:36 listening to it as much as I enjoyed recording it
0:59:37 and doing it.
0:59:40 So this is Guy Kawasaki, it’s a remarkable people.
0:59:43 I hope we made you a little bit more remarkable today.
0:59:46 Thanks to Madison Nizmer, producer, co-author,
0:59:51 Tessa Nizmer, researcher, and Jeff C. and Shannon Hernandez.
0:59:53 We are the Remarkable People team,
0:59:55 and we’re trying to make you remarkable
0:59:59 and get a remarkable car registration experience.
1:00:01 Thank you everybody.
1:00:08 – This is Remarkable People.