In case you missed it, today marks the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act (CRA). President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the landmark law on July 2, 1964 (pictured above). The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces Title VII of the CRA, which prohibits employment discrimination in the public and private sectors (in additionRead… Read more »
A recent report of entrepreneurs found that the characteristic they seek most when investing in someone’s venture startup is the ability to sustain an intense effort. Michelangelo laid on his back for four years painting the Sistine Chapel. Tim Howard had 16 saves during this year’s World Cup match against Belgium. What are you goingRead… Read more »
By Kelsey Lund, Marketing Communications Specialist, GovDelivery How is the Department of Education using open data programs, email and social media to engage stakeholders? Check out the snapshot below of part of the panel session with Cameron Brenchley, Director of Digital Strategy for the U.S. Department of Education from this year’s annual Digital Communications TourRead… Read more »
Democracy is built around the idea of equality, the idea that all citizens can participate equally and exercise their power through elected officials. For a true democracy to thrive, citizens must be willing to engage. They must vote, participate and collaborate with government at all levels. Otherwise, the model falls flat on its face. NotRead… Read more »
My favorite innovation techniques, such as brainwriting, come from some key books in my personal library: Gamestorming, Back of the Napkin, Blah Blah Blah: What To Do When Words Don’t Work, creatingminds.org, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information and Visual Explanations. Common to all of these resources is the concept of “visual language” or “visualRead… Read more »
In our last post on digital innovation, we set the stage for the future of the public service agency. We talked about the goals of the digital public agency: the ability to engage with constituents; the ability to simplify operations at all levels; and the ability to change and adapt to new circumstances. We alsoRead… Read more »
Today, public sector organizations at all levels are facing shrinking budgets, with some of the most severe cuts taking place in information technology and support services. But at the same time, these organizations are expected to deliver services and conduct business at the speed of technology, as citizens of all ages – from boomers toRead… Read more »
In ancient Greece, privileged countrymen consumed a sacred drink called barley wine containing barley, grated cheese, and wine. But the if drink was not kept in a constant state of movement, the contents would harden and became undrinkable. Just like the barley wine, if we settle for comfortable routines, our thinking becomes rigid and ourRead… Read more »
We’ve all heard the phrase, “Practice makes perfect.” While many dismiss this idea as well-worn and antiquated, the concept of meaningful practice has been embraced by neuroscientists and life coaches alike in recent years. Author Daniel Coyle champions practice as the means to achieving excellent in his book The Talent Code. The idea is thatRead… Read more »
In this age of email and text messaging, we often see evidence of taking short cuts and stating conflicting ideas to one another. In doing this, sometimes the spirit of the message is not understood and often interpreted a negative way. When this happens we sometimes have to spend even more time trying to explainRead… Read more »