Yearly Archives: 2013

What’s the Role of the Chief Data Officer?

I recently read through a fascinating discussion on EMC’s Chuck’s Blog: Are Conditions Right For a “Chief Data Officer.” The blog derives quite a bit from an excerpt from a book, The Case for Chief Data Officer. The books authors, Peter Aiken and Michael Gorman, argue that c-level managers must be data savvy, and thatRead… Read more »

More great Boxer Advisors events

Yesterday, I conducted a dynamic webinar called “Top 10 Low-Cost, High-Impact Solutions for Federal Government Officials.” Thank you to everyone who participated; I hope you found it relevant and illuminating. To those of you unable to attend but interested in the topic, you can contact us at [email protected] to receive a free recording or whitepaperRead… Read more »

Structure in Threes: One Enterprise’s Capability is another’s Function

Spent a portion of yesterday going through my project archive (two four drawer lateral file cabinets). Mostly to clear out duplicated or outdated materials, but some was information mining for the book. Typically on engagements I spend a fair amount of time to understand clients mental models, language and corporate culture with the objective toRead… Read more »

7 Tips to Help Collaboration

In a a recent blog post I shared some tips to get your employees thinking creatively. One of these tips was to encourage working in groups, sharing ideas (even the “bad” ones) and basically creating a culture of collaboration. Like encouraging creative thinking, promoting collaboration is often a lot easier said than done. With budgetRead… Read more »

Side effects of civic technology partnerships may include healthier cities

One of the success stories in Chicago’s civic innovation community is the rapid spread of health related apps that have come out of both the volunteer civic technology community and paid development efforts. This started last year with Tom Kompare’s Chicago flu shot app that helped Chicago residents find free flu shots near them. (LaterRead… Read more »

What We Can Learn about Process Improvement from Two Old White Guys

Last weekend, I was thinking about my undergraduate days when I took a lot of philosophy courses at a small Catholic liberal arts college. I remember the classical Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle approaching reality from two different yet complementary angles. At the risk of overgeneralizing, Plato believed that reality existed in ideas from whichRead… Read more »

3 Ways to Create a Positive Customer Vent

According to a study conducted by the Society of New Communications Research, “59 percent of respondents say they regularly use social media to “vent” about their own customer care frustrations.” Social media has changed the way organizations (public and private) interact with citizens. Organizations can have people fill out surveys in under a minute, shareRead… Read more »

Containing an outbreak, saving lives – Plus Your Weekend Reads

Disease outbreaks can cripple communities and economies alike. Back in September 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began receiving reports from health officials in Tennessee about patients diagnosed with a rare form of meningitis. This worrisome information set off alarm bells at the CDC, which quickly launched an emergency response team led byRead… Read more »

We are all street level bureaucrats now

Originally published on cpsrenewal.ca Or at least we will be, eventually. That’s the argument Kent made on Wednesday in What We Lost in the Fire, We Gain in the Flood, and it’s the argument I want to build on today. But first a quick recap of Kent’s line of reasoning. Street-level bureaucrats have traditionally beenRead… Read more »

Salesmen Need To Be Coaches At Fiscal Year-End

by Steve Charles, Co-founder and Executive Vice President Your customers need your help. Not just your products and the requirements those will fulfill, but your personal help to get fully justified purchase requests to contracting shops who can issue the order before the end of the fiscal year. I spoke on a panel discussion lastRead… Read more »