Yearly Archives: 2012

Continuous improvement is great, but shouldn’t we innovate?

Do more with less. We’ve all heard it, and it’s great to create lean services during austerity. However, there’s a limit to lean, and a point where we need to try new things and do things differently. Chris Dorobek of the DorobekINSIDER spoke with Ron Ashkenas, Managing Partner at Schaffer Consulting, author of Simply EffectiveRead… Read more »

Multiple Studies Show Social Media in Government on the Rise, Though a Reminder that Print Media is NOT Dead

The federal government is quickly changing its views on employee use of social media. In our Social Media in the Public Sector 2011 study, published last year, we found that only 19 percent of agencies banned the use of social networks in 2011, a sharp decline from 55 percent in 2010. Along these same lines,Read… Read more »

Is there a role for a project manager on Agile projects?

Are you a Project Manager in an Agency or Organization moving to Agile? Is there a role for you? The typical Agile answer to most yes or no questions is “it depends.” (but my answer is a resounding, YES!) Whether you work for the Federal Government or for private industry, you are probably wondering orRead… Read more »

DorobekINSIDER: 7 Stories you need to know: Defense contractors join the Pentagon’s cyber-defense strategy

The SEVEN stories that impact your life for Tuesday the 15th of May, 2012 The Pentagon predicts that as many as 1,000 defense contractors may join a voluntary effort to share classified information on cyber threats under an expansion of a first-ever initiative to protect computer networks. BusinessWeek reports that the program comes after aRead… Read more »

Management/Project plans

Josh is exactly right. Gaining consensus for processes that are not well defined is key.So is building on the strengths & values of your organization in a project plan. That’s part of “how things get done around here”.

Why Not?

Have you ever come up with a new idea and someone immediately lists the million things that could potentially go wrong? I think that energy is negative – it’s focused in the wrong direction. It is stifling creativity, conversation and, quite possibly, game-changing solutions. In some government organizations, we hear “that’s how we have alwaysRead… Read more »

MakeYourJob.org Is A New Interactive Community Helping Teens Launch Startups

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) — The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, or NFTE, an international non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring young people from low-income communities to stay in school and recognize business opportunities, just launched MakeYourJob.org, an new interactive web community that gives teens the tools and knowledge needed to help turn their interests and hobbiesRead… Read more »

Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds Annual Conference

For several years, the National Defense University (NDU) has been sponsoring the Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds Conference. This annual event explores government use of 3D immersive technology. Although the event is great to attend in person, many people are not able to travel to Washington DC and instead attend the event online through severalRead… Read more »

Social Software Implementations and Change Management: A Judokan Approach

The principles of judo should be applied to the change management efforts necessary for successful social software implementations, including enterprise 2.0 (E2.0) systems, social intranets, and digital communities. The core idea is to recognize and accept individuals and organizations as they are, rather than as they should be, and to work with current realities ratherRead… Read more »

Domestic Drone Policy, Federal Telework, and More

Today’s federal cybersecurity and information technology news: Pilots, aircraft manufacturers, and privacy groups ask the Federal Aviation Administration to ensure drones could not be hijacked or jammed and that they would not cause problems for manned aircraft before it allows their widespread domestic use. More here. Department of Homeland Security Chief Information Officer Richard SpiresRead… Read more »