The Center for Public Integrity’s state corruption index has hit the news again this past week, giving most states terrible grades on transparency and accountability and suggesting that our states governments are corrupt. The study, completed in 2011, was put together by journalists in state capitals choosing 330 questions and was peer reviewed by manyRead… Read more »
Poor processes equals pissed off employees! Pissed off employees equals pissed off customers and constituents. We all have things that annoy us about our job. When you spend nearly 40% of your day (or more) in the office, you’re likely to find a few things frustrating. An overwhelming 60 % of people said poor processesRead… Read more »
“I like your creativity and where this is going, but…” It doesn’t even matter what your boss says next—she’s already decided that your idea is awful. Your fate was sealed the moment she uttered ‘but.’ The praise before that dreaded conjunction does nothing to soften the blow. As the old adage goes, everything before theRead… Read more »
If you want to know about major innovation in the public sector then look to NASA. The space agency is a crown jewel of government innovation and a global role model for groundbreaking scientific research and discovery. NASA serves as a reminder to America of what’s possible when Uncle Sam harnesses his full potential, asRead… Read more »
Think back to when you were a kid. You had an idea and you knew it was right. The system for chores wasn’t good enough. You KNEW that if you and your sibling worked together the way YOU wanted the chores could get done easier and faster. Once you came up with a plan toRead… Read more »
The ubiquitous all-nighter is like an inside joke among workaholics, a contest to see who is the most productive with the least amount of sleep. Sleep is for the weak, caffeine is life. Those who stay up all night bow to no one—not the sun, not the clock, and more certainly not the REM cycle.Read… Read more »
One of the best things I’ve read recently is Grant Vergottini’s Imagining Government Data in the 21st Century where he lists and then explains seven characteristics of “data transparency”: The data must be available. The data must be provided in such a way that it is accessible and understandable by the widest possible audience. TheRead… Read more »
In advance of the Afghan Presidential election run-off scheduled for June 14, Larry Sampler, assistant to the USAID Administrator for Afghanistan and Pakistan join me on The Business of Government to explore how USAID has sought to promote stability and order in Afghanistan and what is USAID’s three-fold transition strategy. The following is an excerptRead… Read more »
Cloud based communication and collaboration services help you ease into the daunting world of cloud-based services by using the most mature product. These products offer rich features at a low price without the hassle of managing the infrastructure. The major players are Google Apps for Government and Microsoft Office 365. I have used both andRead… Read more »
Space: the final frontier. When you look into the night sky, up at the stars, you can’t help but dream of exploration. A trip to the moon. A map of the constellations. A ride on a solar flare. But in 2011, NASA changed the space game: they terminated the space shuttle program. But that didn’tRead… Read more »