Career

John Stuart Mill: Rolling in his Grave

As cries of “socialist!” and “terrorist!” fly, I am once again amazed at how low we have sunk in our national dialogue. I mean really: our economy’s a mess, we’re stuck in a war we can’t win, people don’t have adequate health care, and our schools suck. But all we can do is name call?Read… Read more »

Is micromanagement killing Generation X/Y?

This blog was originally published by John, the Chief Information Security Officer for Young Government Leaders, on the YGL website: http://www.younggovernmentleaders.org/blog.htm Is micromanagement killing generation X/Y? “The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them whileRead… Read more »

State Needs New Diplomats: Ready to Recruit with Web 2.0?

An article in today’s Government Executive addresses a serious gap in the State Department’s diplomatic corps: If the State Department does not beef up its workforce, diplomatic programs will suffer and foreign policy will become more militarized, a new report warned. “Today, significant portions of the nation’s foreign affairs business simply are not accomplished,” statedRead… Read more »

Rule #6: “Most meetings contain a very high % of “Mental Masturbation” which can be significantly reduced by the chair creating and following and agenda”

Rule #6: “Most meetings contain a very high % of “Mental Masturbation” which can be significantly reduced by the chair creating and following and agenda” For 25 years peers, bosses, subordinates and my wife have tried to convince me to eliminate the term “mental masturbation” from my vocabulary. I continue to use it not forRead… Read more »

How Can Community Based Social Media Support the Next Census?

How Can Community Based Social Media Support the Next Census? By Dennis D. McDonald A recent AP article titled Census: Big Brother anxieties could hurt count reports official concern that the next US census is threatened by public anxiety about government activities such as immigration control and anti-terrorism measures. This made me wonder how theRead… Read more »

YGL – OPM and the Federal Hiring Process

It has been said time and time again that one of the best ways to get young people interested in working for the Federal Government is to change its hiring process. It became no longer acceptable to have a Federal Agency take six months or longer to hire a candidate. In that time, potential hiresRead… Read more »

Book Review – How to Land a Top-Paying Federal Job

Have you ever gone to a bookstore and sorted through all the books about getting a federal job? Well I have and I want to let you know they are all horrible. Basically, they are all scam books re-purposing content that is available for free on sites like USAJOBS.gov. Further, most of the authors haveRead… Read more »