Contracting-out or outsourcing in-house functions is many times viewed as a panacea to problems an organization is facing or as a sure way to reduce costs, which is not always what happens. Here are some considerations in planning to implement the contracting-out or outsourcing of an-house function. Use these considerations as a starting point; theRead… Read more »
For the last few years, I have been working with a colleague on developing a new theory of project management. We argue that the project manager is not a manager in the traditional sense but a blending of manager and leader. This has been written about before by other project management scholars but I believeRead… Read more »
A week or so ago, GovLoop started a discussion on what a government innovation lab would look like. Some great comments on how to build collaborative workspaces but I felt that the discussion missed the greater point of how to make government agencies more innovative. The major problem with innovation labs is that they mayRead… Read more »
As CIOs and Chief Knowledge Officers bring tools that have been used on the Internet – blogs, wikis, microblogs, profiles – behind the firewall, they tend to expect the same results. “We’ll have our own Wikipedia!” Or Facebook…or Twitter – you name it. Unfortunately, as many have already discovered and many more will continue toRead… Read more »
“Just as the visible world is sustained by the invisible, so too do the manifestations of man find nourishment in the visions of our solitary dreamers.” – Wayne Dyer, author of The Power of Intention Today’s aspiring government leaders find themselves too often facing impossible challenges with few resources available to help them. More thanRead… Read more »
Ken Miller has written a great book titled Extreme Government Make Over, which I am going to write about in a four part series of posts this week. Miller is the founder of the Change and Innovation Agency, a firm dedicated to helping government increase its capacity to do more good. If you are interestedRead… Read more »
Recently in my coaching sessions with several government managers, I found a reluctance to engage in conversations that would open up and potentially deal with sensitive, difficult issues. This is a common problem I see with managers and is part of learning how to effectively manage up. Part of the fear of having these conversationsRead… Read more »
Need heart? J.K. Rowling’s 2008 commencement address (video + transcript) to the Harvard Alumni Association delivers – along with liberal heapings of vision and inspiration.
I was just listening to a leadership podcast entitled “The Power of Apprenticeship” and I wanted to share some of the lessons from it. In essence, there are three steps to successfully engaging in apprenticeship activities: **************** 1. Selecting – when you see someone that makes you take notice, find a way to personally investRead… Read more »
Legislation.gov.uk, the UK’s official free and open online legislative service, has won the UK Public Sector Digital Award for “Best example of ICT-enabled innovation and enterprise,” according to a 20 January 2012 announcement on The National Archives Website. Please join me in congratulating John Sheridan, creator and administrator of Legislation.gov.uk, and a member of ourRead… Read more »