Leadership

Canada’s Action Plan on Open Government: A Review

The other day the Canadian Government published its Action Plan on Open Government, a high level document that both lays out the Government’s goals on this file as well as fulfill its pledge to create tangible goals as part of its participation in next week’s Open Government Partnership 2012 annual meeting in Brazil. So whatRead… Read more »

Is Michigan’s Innovation Fund a Blueprint for Success?

Chris Dorobek recently interviewed David Behen, the Chief Information Officer at Michigan’s Department of Technology, Management and Budget on the DorobekINSIDER. I’ve been following discussions on GovLoop over the past several months on whether government should fund innovation initiatives and how it could do so during tough fiscal conditions, so I was really interested inRead… Read more »

How to Grow Mushrooms in the Office

Before you think this article is one you perhaps shouldn’t be reading as a government professional, let me define office mushrooms for you. I’m not talking about the fungus, but rather the saying about how some companies treat their employees – keeping them in the dark and feeding them garbage. It’s a good way toRead… Read more »

What Happens When Leaders Ask ‘Why Do We Do This?’

Young children are legendary for asking Why? Why? Why? when seeking to learn. Adults, however, tend to simply do what’s been done before without asking – why do we do this? An experience to consider. When appointed as head of operations years ago, I suspended a dozen reports compiled by the accounting department without announcingRead… Read more »

An innovative fund for innovation; NASA’s opengov 2.0 plan; and the Sunshine Awards

An innovative fund for innovation; NASA’s opengov 2.0 plan; and the Sunshine Awards by GovLoop Insights On today’s program for Thursday April 12, 2012: The challenge is to be innovative. What about an innovation fund? They’re actually trying this out in Michigan. We’ll talk to the person behind it about how it works… their goals…Read… Read more »

Should Government Reorganize Itself? (Part VI)

Are there legislative options beyond (or in addition to) presidential reorganization authority that could encourage collaboration and not just move boxes? Typically, the cultural, administrative, and legal barriers to working together collaboratively inside the federal government are too high and they discourage efforts to collaborate (more on this in a future post). The Obama AdministrationRead… Read more »

What Does it Take to be a Leader in the Digital Era?

How should we define the keys to successful leadership now that we are fully immersed in the Digital Era? This post shares diverse perspectives on the core characteristics and offers preliminary thoughts on integrating ideas and identifying themes. Readers are invited to contribute additional ideas, insights, and analysis. Background As the Founder of both theRead… Read more »

Real-World Civic Innovation Through Online Gaming

Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) — When you think of “games,” you might think of Gears of War for Xbox, or Angry Birds for iPhone, or perhaps Zynga games for Facebook. But increasingly, people working in the public and civic sectors see value in leveraging games and game mechanics to accomplish real-world change. In that vein,Read… Read more »