Episode Description

Strategic plans that actually drive change instead of collecting dust on shelves? Paul Schneider, infrastructure advisor at Rawlins Infra Consult, reveals how his 40+ years in transportation—including nearly two decades in FHWA leadership—shaped a radically different approach to DOT strategic planning.

Discover why most strategic plans fail to change daily operations and how Paul's methodology gets entire organizations invested in strategic success rather than just complying with leadership mandates.

Guest Bio

Paul Schneider is an infrastructure advisor at Rawlins Infra Consult with over 40 years of transportation experience. He spent nearly two decades in senior leadership roles at the Federal Highway Administration across Illinois, Nevada, and California, retiring in 2022 as a deputy division administrator. Paul has led strategic planning efforts with state DOTs throughout his career and now helps transportation agencies implement comprehensive strategic planning that actually drives organizational change.

Key Topics Covered

• The Evolution of Strategic Planning - Paul's journey from FHWA's early quality initiatives in the 1990s to mature strategic planning practices
• Core DOT Challenges - How staffing shortages and operational demands prevent agencies from stepping back to improve processes
• The Implementation Gap - Why most strategic plans fail to influence day-to-day operations despite good intentions
• Comprehensive Staff Engagement - Paul's methodology for getting entire organizations involved in strategic plan development
• Overcoming Jadedness - How to convince DOT employees that strategic planning can actually create meaningful change

Actionable Insights

1. Assess Your Current Reality - If staff aren't doing anything differently after your strategic plan launch, you have limited success
2. Engage Rather Than Mandate - Give employees the opportunity to contribute actions they can personally execute instead of assigning top-down mandates
3. Focus on Gap Analysis - Help units identify improvements that support both current operations and future strategic vision
4. Prioritize Ruthlessly - You still have to "run the machine" while making improvements, so prioritize actions carefully
5. Build Shared Ownership - When everyone contributes to the implementation plan, you create mutual alignment across the organization

Notable Quotes

"If the majority of staff don't do anything differently when a strategic plan is released, I'd characterize that as very limited success in your strategic planning initiative."

"As soon as you start telling people 'do more' and you didn't ask them if they wanted to do more, that 'do more with less' doesn't usually go over real big with most people."

"If DOTs integrate strategic planning throughout their organization, then the mission and vision can be achieved. They can be successful not only in achieving the strategic plan, but being successful as a DOT in achieving the goals that the general public, legislators, and governors expect."

Resources & Contact

• Email Paul Schneider: Pauls@rawlinsic.com
• Company Website:  https://rawlinsic.com/
• Connect on LinkedIn: Paul's LinkedIn profile

Episode Timestamps

• [00:24] Introduction and Paul's background
• [01:08] Paul's strategic planning experience at FHWA
• [04:01] Transition to consulting with Rawlins
• [05:02] Main challenges DOTs face in strategic planning
• [06:27] How consulting firms solve capacity challenges
• [09:37] Success stories and common implementation failures
• [11:42] Paul's different approach to comprehensive strategic planning
• [16:04] Key message for DOT leaders
• [16:29] Reality check about DOT employee perspectives
• [17:35] Contact information and closing thoughts

Article: Maximizing DOT Success: Strategic Planning Insights with Paul Schneider

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