Communications

Mad Men and the Fear of Trading Martinis for Spreadsheets

“Now, try not to be overwhelmed by all this technology,” Joan tells new secretary Peggy Olson, showing her to a Selectric typewriter in the series opening of Mad Men. While humorous to the viewer, actual secretaries in the 1960s had a substantial learning curve when getting a new and improved typewriter. Since then, things haveRead… Read more »

The First Cut is the Deepest – Especially When It’s From Your Boss

“The first cut is the deepest” is a lyric from a popular Sheryl Crowe song – but it could also easily be the mantra for any employee struggling with an abusive boss. Many bosses (not mine, thankfully) like to employ the fear tactic to inspire their employees to work harder and stay on task. ButRead… Read more »

10 Actions You Should Take Now to Be a Successful Leader

You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t possibly live long enough to make them all yourself. — Sam Levinson I’ve interviewed over 450 government and contractor managers over the last fifteen years as part of a business growth assessment process. Besides getting to know a lot of sincere dedicated individuals, I’ve beenRead… Read more »

The Changing Government Office Portent Broader Changes – Plus the 7 Gov Stories

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER: The Target hack has IT folks spooked. But what can and should be done? We talked with the new head of ISC2 Dan Waddell. You can find all of our programs online: DorobekINSIDER.com and GovLoop Insights at http://insights.govloop.com. But up front: The changing government office portent broader changes? The workplace isRead… Read more »

Anatomy of Book Content: Focus on Back Matter — Print and eBooks

ANATOMY OF BOOK CONTENT: FOCUS ON BACK MATTER –Print and eBooks With the formatting of eBooks, many back cover elements are missing when compared to traditional print paperback and hardcover books with jackets. . Some of these areas include jacket copy where a publisher would provide a description “About the Author” to establish the personRead… Read more »

Accelerating State Financial Transparency – 11 Steps To Take Right Now

We know that government is slow to adopt new technologies and change. But the technologies now exist to provide you as a constituent or as a state leader with the ability to see where state dollars are being spent and what results are being achieved virtually in real-time. It is now only a question ofRead… Read more »

How to respond when rumours start to spread on Facebook

‘Rumour Cascades‘, a joint study from Stanford University and Facebook, provides some fascinating insights that can serve as advice for public bodies on halting the spread of misinformation. This was first published on the Guardian website in mid May. A new study, jointly conducted by Facebook and Stanford University, has shed new light on howRead… Read more »

How to do Citizen Engagement Right: The Power of Email

Oftentimes, the success of a public program depends on your ability to engage the citizenry. For example, you might need to work with coastal residents to prepare for potential flood hazards. Or you might need citizen input on a local development initiative. You might even need the public’s help in reporting crime. However, successfully engagingRead… Read more »

How to do Citizen Engagement Right: The Power of Email

Oftentimes, the success of a public program depends on your ability to engage the citizenry. For example, you might need to work with coastal residents to prepare for potential flood hazards. Or you might need citizen input on a local development initiative. You might even need the public’s help in reporting crime. However, successfully engagingRead… Read more »

7 Steps to Productivity

In my last blog, I talked about how to increase everyone’s productivity by tweaking your meetings. What about making your personal time more productive? Technology helps you multitask and do more, right? Wrong. Mutitasking creates lower quality results making you less productive. Here are seven productivity tips that I have combined from inc.com, a listRead… Read more »