Moving Forward by Working Backward: From Overall Strategy to Daily Tasks

In the pages of management books and in the bottomless sea of online materials, there is no shortage of five-part frameworks and six-step plans for devising and executing organizational strategy. But Joshua J. Marcuse, Senior Advisor for Policy Innovation within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, has accomplished the feat of sifting through muchRead… Read more »

Employee Perceptions: Heroes, Villains and Martyrs

In today’s inter-generational work environment, some people in the diverse workforce approach their daily routine differently. For example, some of staffers may show great initiative while others simply wait for assignments to come to them. Still others avoid taking risks maybe out of concern that their ideas may not yield the desired results. Often employees areRead… Read more »

Agile: The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread?

According to Project Managers and Agile experts from the U. S. Census Bureau, “Agile is the best thing since sliced”… literally. The “Deeper Dive: Project Management Tips and Concepts” session at this year’s NextGenGov Summit kicked off by asking attendees what they would prefer to buy: a loaf of bread where they had to buyRead… Read more »

Rethinking Leadership in the Everyone-Leads Era

“It’s ok to fall out of a tree.” “Maybe you shouldn’t climb that tree.” Henry De Sio broke the ice during today’s lunchtime keynote here at the 2015 NextGen Conference by bringing his two sons up on stage to share their leadership lessons. The boys were eager to share all of the info they’ve learnedRead… Read more »

Homophily (That Means Love of Same) OK for Dating, But Not for Mentoring

I’m white, Jewish and male. If I behaved like sociologists expect, most of my mentors would be “like” me. But I don’t. The lion’s share of my mentors are black, female and of a different faith than I. Though I’ve never personally been the subject of research on homophily —the tendency of individuals to associateRead… Read more »

Technology Advances a Smart City

Cisco, Qualcomm, Intel, SAP, and IBM have “Smart City” programs that promise to solve urban problems, involve citizens, conserve energy, and launch cities into a new “digital” future. Their marketing and technology expertise would have us believe that no city could run faster, better, and cheaper without more technology. Cisco has committed to create aRead… Read more »

Why the Minions Should Run Government

Last week I had the pleasure to watch Illumination Entertainment’s Minions, the movie about the yellow pill-shaped creatures that was accompanied by an aggressive marketing campaign. I found that the movie, which shows the Minions from the beginning of time to the time they meet Despicable Me‘s Gru, to be hilarious from the the Universal logo at the beginningRead… Read more »