Leadership

NASCIO Releases Guidance on the IT Implications of the Health Benefit Exchanges

The NASCIO Healthcare Working Group has released a publication, On the Fence: IT Implications of the Health Benefit Exchanges. The publication is now available for download at www.nascio.org/publications. Now more than ever, state government relies on state CIOs to provide dependable information technology business solutions, serve citizens and enable the delivery of agency services. HealthRead… Read more »

A-133 Compliance Supplement Is Here!

Finally, the Office of Management and Budget has released the 2011 Circular A-133 audit guidance document. As usual, new programs have been added, other programs have been deleted, and individual program descriptions have been updated. In addition, OMB has added guidance and references relating to Transparency Act reporting, and clarified reporting requirements and auditors’ responsibilitiesRead… Read more »

Clean Edge Identifies U.S. Clean Energy Leaders

Technology, Policy, Capital. The positioning of these three elements in favor of clean energy can be a powerful force for innovation, investment, and sustainability. That, at least, is what the latest U.S. Clean Energy Leadership Index points toward. The usual states top the list of this year’s report: California, Oregon, Massachusetts, New York, Colorado, Washington,Read… Read more »

Cost Recovery Strategies–thoughts from Deloitte

Wanted to share a great post from Government Executive magazine. It’s a Q&A with Deloitte’s Janet Hale, former under secretary of management at the Department of Homeland Security and associate director for economics and budget for the OMB. The article discusses cost recovery strategies for your agency? Cost recovery strategies in the new normal Favorite

Do Grown-Ups Make the Best Leaders?

In a recent column in the Washington Post, former Clinton administration official Elaine Kamarck asked the compelling question, can a grown-up win the presidency? She goes on to discuss that the chatter classes often can see the merits of the well-versed, established candidate while the public likes to know that they can feel comfortable havingRead… Read more »

Regulatory Reform: Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk

Earlier this year, the Obama Administration launched a regulatory reform effort. President Obama committed to a “look back” at existing regulations and asked agencies to identify “outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome” rules on the books. Here’s one example of what the review found: Since the 1970s, milk has been defined as an “oil” andRead… Read more »

The Government Man and the Plain Language Act

With all of the hoopla about the Plain Language Act, the Government Man thought this would be a perfect opportunity to spread some wisdom and of course hype his own creation. In my book, Confessions of a Government Man, I devote an entire chapter to “Language of Government.” Maybe our lawmakers read it prior toRead… Read more »

The Art of Letting Go: Freeing Up Grief, Defusing Power Struggles and Inspiring Flow

The phrase “letting go” has long been a vital part of my stress management overview, especially related to breaking the “erosive spiral” of that all-consuming “b”-word. (When it comes to stress, actually, a number of emotionally charged “b” words jump to mind, for example, “botox,” or when you have a BMW colleague, which I recentlyRead… Read more »

Accordion Innovation – Harnessing the Cloud for Public Sector Innovation

I’m a one-trick pony on Government innovation in that I always go on about the need for more adoption of Cloud Computing. This is for good reason I believe. Canada has a renowned ‘Innovation Gap’, showing a decline in many aspects of national innovation while sustaining an economy through a dependence natural resource businesses, anRead… Read more »