Can Innovation Chase the Wrong Things?

Organizations innovate for customers, but customers don’t think about innovation. In a digital world, customers think about ease and convenience, speed, security. Citizens care about receiving what they were promised. And in government, that means many things to many people. So if innovation means doing something different to add value for customers, what does itRead… Read more »

Origins of Strategic Communications & Public Affairs

A wise man once said, “You can only know where you’re going if you know where you’ve been.” This wise man is none other than the esteemed and renowned British Science Historian, James Burke. When I think of this saying, the communications geek in me thinks about the vast journey the communications field has takenRead… Read more »

Leadership in Action

With each edition of The Business of Government magazine, my goal is straightforward: to introduce readers to the works, insights, and advice from some of today’s key government executives, who are tackling significant management challenges and seizing opportunities to lead. To complement these examples of leadership in action, I also highlight the practical, actionable research… Read more »

3 Ways To Be Happier At Work

It possible to train yourself to become happier? This question fascinates me, which is why I was intrigued by this infographic from the folks at Happify, a site where you can sign up for a daily regimen of scientifically-backed happiness-boosting games. The infographic is based on current research on what makes people happier at work,Read… Read more »

How to Prevent Harassment in the Federal Workplace

When most people hear about workplace harassment, it’s likely to be sexual harassment because that’s traditionally been the most common and publicized form. However, harassment is much broader than that of a purely sexual nature. In fact, harassment may take many forms of which not everyone is aware. Under federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, harassmentRead… Read more »

How IT Can Prevent Public Servants From Burning Out

Although technology has drastically changed the way government operates, there are still some ideals that remain timeless about government. One of these is the foundation of what it means to be a public servant, which was perhaps said best by the Athenian Oath, nearly 2,000 years ago: “We will never bring disgrace on this ourRead… Read more »

All Data as a Service (DaaS/BDaaS) – Who’s Your D-a-a-S Enabler?

There are three primary and distinct roles to consider, whether you’re building or buying DaaS – regardless of the type or characteristics of data that’s being exchanged; big data, open data, fast data, IoT/IoE data, metadata, microdata, multimedia content, structured, non-structured, semi-structured…ALL DATA. The DaaS Consumer – who needs not only to acquire data fromRead… Read more »

Good Witch vs Bad Witch:The Fine Art of Setting Boundaries

Communication is important to just about every aspect of my job as a public affairs specialist. I eat it, breathe it and sleep it. Yet, it’s always something I’m constantly fine-tuning. How should I say this? What’s the best way to relay this message? Are we effectively reaching our audience? Wherever I go, I always tryRead… Read more »

We’re All Becoming Tech Workers… And We Need to Be Ready

As the Digital Era continues to progress, social and digital technologies will become more fully integrated into not just the work we do, but how we do it. Although external applications such as marketing, sales, and customer service have dominated adoption activities and discussions to date (particularly in the context of consumer goods and services),Read… Read more »