Congratulations. Here are ten suggestions from a former Deputy: 1. Be your agency’s Chief Operating Officer. No one else has the scope of authority to do this job. 2. Listen. Within the first 15 days interview 10 to 20 people who know the agency well. Ask them: What are the best things about the agency?Read… Read more »
When the American auto industry became the next in line for a big government bailout, there were those who immediately tried to blame the unions. The topic of unions seems to come up in my world rather often, so I thought I’d make it this week’s subject. Are unions bad or good? Being a socialistRead… Read more »
Imagine that you’ve just met a charismatic man (or woman) at Starbucks. You chat for a few minutes while you sip on your caramel macchiato latte, and the next thing you know you’ve been there so long your latte has gone cold, yet it seems like only a few seconds! As you walk to yourRead… Read more »
I’ve previously made my case for the value of the word “bureaucrat” but it’s a tough battle. To appease the 50th complaint, I changed the profile question to “Who is your favorite public servant?” Which bring me to public service. A lot of talk has occurred recently on reenergizing public service. When I was inRead… Read more »
This post previously appeared on my “Social Media Strategery” blog. One of the things that I have consistently noticed in my five years as a government communications consultant is that our new hires who come from the corporate world go through an adjustment period upon first supporting a government client. That’s to be expected asRead… Read more »
I Introduction Is there anything called e-civil service or electronic civil service? If so, what is it? How does it differ from the traditional civil service? How can it keep pace with technological developments? What role does it have in Government 2.0? Is there any conflict between old conduct rules for the civil servants andRead… Read more »
OK…so I get one day of rest to do laundry and then I head off to the Interservice and Industry, Training, Simulation and Education Conference (IITSEC). If you are not within the U.S. Dept of Defense sphere or its international partners, then let me hip you to this gig. Imagine 15-20K people from all overRead… Read more »
College was a great time. Books, beer, and brains. I went to college in Ohio and fall really represents college to me. Leaves falling, football playing, and basketball about to start. And GovLoop’s “Bureaucrat on Sports” providing witty banter on the latest in college sports. At GovLoop, I’ve noticed a number of university groups haveRead… Read more »
As the world searches for an answer to reducing the use of fossil fuels, cities are starting to look to the personal rapid transit (PRT) system as a potential solution. Lately, MISTER, a Polish-based company, has gained increasing notice for their innovative PRT system. MISTER is an acronym for Metropolitan Individual System of Transportation onRead… Read more »
Santa Clarita, California has come up with a new way of enforcing the city’s brand and getting people to have some civic pride. They started an online boutique. That’s right. The City of Santa Clarita has it’s own official online store. I was browsing the site and found myself desperately wishing that my own cityRead… Read more »