DISA Case Study: Increased Collaboration Through Digitized Services

This article is an excerpt from a recent research brief with Appian, Accelerating Government Transformation With IT, which includes a survey of 178 public-sector professionals who identified the challenges, best practices and importance of adopting digital transformation solutions. DISA provides advanced information technology and immediate communications support to the President, Vice President, Secretary of Defense, militaryRead… Read more »

How Streamlined Data Leads to Better Decisions

The following is an excerpt from the GovLoop Guide, The Joint Information Environment: The IT Framework for the Future. You can access the full report here, in which we describe the JIE and impact it is making at the Department of Defense. The Joint Information Environment promises to create a consolidated IT infrastructure across theRead… Read more »

Card Cataloging for Government Acquisitions

Before the invention of the Internet, libraries depended entirely on card catalogs. Although painstakingly tedious for any librarian, organizing card catalogs is an almost fail-proof method of documenting the overwhelming inventory of any library. And general cataloging standards tend to be standardized across most libraries. Card cataloging or any standardization method can make almost allRead… Read more »

Amending Contracts: When You Missed Something Important

Once a contract is in place, there is a sense of relief and completion. If the service is being performed reasonably well, the contract can become a document that is rarely or never referenced again. Contract amendments are often not considered except at unavoidable points in the relationship such as time extensions, changes in scopeRead… Read more »

A Look Back: Reflecting on 2014

I learned a new phrase this week: “time confetti.” It’s a phrase that Brigid Schulte, author of Overwhelmed: Work, Love, And Play When No One Has The Time uses to describe the harried mishmash of time in modern life. Our days are sliced to ribbons by hordes of overlapping responsibilities, our constant connectivity to workRead… Read more »

The Power of No

“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” – Jim Rohn Highly successful people have learned the word “no”. That is the reason they are paid more and promoted faster. When you truly want to do something, like sleep in late, but you don’t because you know that you have a deadline to beat, you’veRead… Read more »

If You Have To Ask, You Can’t Afford It

“Do you love me?” “No.” After 25 years, my husband gets to say that when I ask a stupid question. “I had a question to ask. Can I interrupt you for a minute?” “Why is it that you always call when I’m trying to write?” “I’m trying to be more collaborative with you. And we’re inRead… Read more »

Whose Career Is It Anyway?

I’m going to let you in on a little secret (but I should warn you, you may not like it!) There’s no such thing as a problem employee… or a bad boss… or a lousy colleague. These people just aren’t sitting in the right chair. See, somewhere along the line, they failed to ask aRead… Read more »

Leadership Lessons

Lao Tzu once said “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” Everyone defines leadership differently in this world. Some believe that a leader exudes charisma, offers a valid vision or inspires the staff to do above andRead… Read more »

You Have To Look Beyond The Data

The world is divided into two camps: Those who trumpet the rise of Big Data. Those who want to shoot it dead. Legitimate opinions of course may vary. But in my own personal observation, the more emphatically you pound your fist on the table, the more your opinion is based in fear. Here is a primer on theRead… Read more »

Yearly Archives: 2014