Monthly Archives: April 2011

The Federal Coach: Gary Locke on Reforming a System: Talking Leadership with the Secretary of Commerce

Gary Locke is the 36th U.S. Secretary of Commerce. He previously was a two-term governor of Washington and is the first Chinese-American in history to serve as governor. Secretary Locke is the presidential nominee to become the next U.S. ambassador to China. What leadership lessons did you learn as governor and how are you applyingRead… Read more »

Government Innovation Launchpad

Check out how one group is tapping into the crowd to get ideas for how to better Government: https://www.innovationlaunchpad.spigit.com/Page/Home A platform designed to significantly open-up the public sector marketplace to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Included in the package was the concept of Product Surgeries – opportunities for SMEs to “pitch” innovative products and servicesRead… Read more »

Top Ten Strategies on Facilitating Career Conversations

This month’s “Top 10 Strategies” centers on the importance of managers having career conversations with employees. Surveys confirm that 4 out of 5 American workers are unsatisfied with their companies’ retention efforts and 3 out of 4 are not satisfied with future career growth opportunities at their company. Furthermore, half of all workers are unsatisfiedRead… Read more »

When Mother Nature Roars, Utilize GIS.

Recent geographical events like the earthquakes and tsunami that have hit Japan prove that we can’t stop Mother Nature. All we can do is know how to prepare, and how to react when doing battle with natural forces. GIS gathers and analyzes important geographical information. It tells a story and can better prepare us forRead… Read more »

Research and Best Practices eNewsletter

Research Tools for Idea Generation (03/2011) – A new guide from the National Academy of Public Administration’s Collaboration Project compares the function and purpose of 10 idea-generation tools. The guide helps leaders select a technology that fits the specific needs of their citizen engagement projects. http://www.collaborationproject.org/tools-for-online-idea-generation/ Millennial Generation the Next Big Thing (03/24/2011) – AsRead… Read more »

Austin City Limits: What’s Holding Back Government Innovation in Austin, Texas?

***Part of our month-long series on Creating a Digital City with PDF – Check out all our analysis*** As municipalities across the country are exploring how to use the Internet to make theirs better places to live, some winning combinations of talent, policy and technology are beginning to emerge — as are problems with otherRead… Read more »