“Scared Straight” versus “Relate” As Human Services Administrator for the City of Santa Clarita, California, I oversee programs that help young people find jobs, resist drugs, get healthy, learn new skills, and avoid gang membership. We invite ex-gang members to speak to “high-risk” teens and we show teens in our Community Court program videos thatRead… Read more »
You might be asking from the start, “what does that graphic have to do with thinking right?” Well, it depicts the problem of adversarial thinking and unfortunately, it’s the most common form we are exposed to and poison for an organization. Such thinking plays out in front of us every day in politics and religionRead… Read more »
I have something to admit: I love a good meeting. Getting people face-to-face can bring out some great ideas and create new ways to address problems in a collaborative environment. Meetings can inspire and invigorate you. But nothing is worse than a pointless meeting. Unfortunately, I attend a lot of those too. Meetings serve aRead… Read more »
The problems the government faces are now bigger and more complicated than ever before. Just look at the healthcare, immigration, regulation or even the federal pay debate. No longer do problems fit nicely into one agency or department. Therefore, the need for collaboration is more apparent than ever. But how do you collaborate in aRead… Read more »
There is a big push on Open Data initiatives since this enables organizations to share data with partners and also build new innovative solutions. Open data maximizes value creation built on structured and unstructured data. Open Data initiatives should be based on technologies that can collect and cleanse data in a standardized manner so thatRead… Read more »
During my time in National Defense University’s Advanced Management Program (41), I took a great course on the balanced scorecard technique. Generally speaking, it is a technique for senior management to measure how well strategic initiatives are performing. However, project managers can use the technique to help steer any project towards success. Balanced Scorecard BasicsRead… Read more »
In my office, I sit right across from GovLoop president and founder Steve Ressler. I, the lowly summer fellow, have to work a mere two feet away from the man who hired me. All Steve has to do to get an update on my latest project is stand up and peer over the wall ofRead… Read more »
“Our unconscious reactions come out of a locked room, and we can’t look inside that room. But with experience we become expert at using our behavior and our training to interpret – and decode – what lies behind our snap judgment and first impressions.” –Malcolm Gladwell Your subconscious mind constantly records, connects and stores unrelatedRead… Read more »
It’s rare that a group in Silicon Valley becomes speechless. When a colleague kept us spellbound during a staff meeting regaling his tales of filming a video blurb in Navajo Nation a few weeks ago, I knew this was a story for the masses. Navajo Nation, the largest area belonging to Native Americans, comprising threeRead… Read more »
It’s well known that federal employee spirits are low, but how low? Record low? Seems like that could be the case.The Office of Personnel Management recently surveyed the 2.1 million workers across the government about their satisfaction at work and the results were troubling. The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government Report foundRead… Read more »