Weekly Round-up: November 30, 2012

Gadi Ben-Yehuda

I’ve been out with Strep this week (did you know that they treat Strep with straight-up penicillin? That 84-year old mold is still rocking and rolling against bacilli of all stripes! If you want to know what I’ve been up to (aside from ingesting fungus to fight a bacteria, turning my body into a Godzilla vs. Mothra movie), take a look at this series on emerging trends on Gov Exec and GOV.Aol. Also: I’ll be speaking about Advanced Sharing and Identity Management at What’s Next DC, and moderating a panel with some very distinguished civil servants at SxSW: “Engaging Government for Fun, Profit, and Meaning.”

Dan Chenok

• Interesting new ideas to help address the debt and spur growth.
• GSA promotes transparency in GWACs via a new dashboard.
• Speed and cost savings are key drivers for Government, says GSA’s Mark Day.

John Kamensky

• What Kind of People Enter Public Service? The recently-released survey of federal employee satisfaction shows a decrease in overall morale, but Federal Times reports that more than 96 percent said they would be willing to put in extra effort “to get a job done.” But what does it really mean to be a committed public servant? See this New York Times article about a New York City police officer.
• The Basics Come First. Harvard professor Bob Behn writes that the PerformanceStat movement is now a continuum of “-stats.” First, an organization must be able to produce the basics, e.g., cities must be able to fill potholes. Then it can move to more complicated efforts, such as redesigning processes and cross-agency collaboration around common outcomes. He calls the three phases: Production-stat, Output-stat, and Collaboration-stat.
• Look Inside Agencies. Government Executive’s Kellie Lunney writes that former Clinton-Gore Reinventing Government leader Elaine Kamarck is offering the Obama Administration some advice for second-term appointees – look inside agencies for leaders to fill key management jobs.
• Running Effective Meetings. Government Executive coach Scott Eblin says there are three points for keeping meeting on-point and on time: Focused, Short, Engaging.

Michael Keegan

• Senate votes to require DHS clean audit by 2013. The Homeland Security Department would be required to conduct and pass a full financial audit under a bill unanimously approved by the Senate on Wednesday.
• Advice for new appointees, career feds in Obama’s second term. While President Barack Obama is staying in office for a second term, some of his current political appointees will be leaving. In order for his new crop of leaders to be successful, they will have to hit the ground running. But, that can sometimes prove difficult in a culture where federal career employees might have concerns about the looming leadership transition, said Tim McManus, vice president of education and outreach at the Partnership for Public Service.
• Transition tips for careerists.Now that the election is over, it is time to give some thought to the coming presidential and departmental transitions. Even though the Democrats retained the White House, a second term for President Barack Obama will bring changes as Cabinet secretaries leave and other senior officials move up and out. Here is a list of do’s and don’ts for career managers looking for ways to work with the new administration.
• DOD on target with data center consolidation. One of every 13 Defense Department data centers has been closed under the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative, and the Pentagon has bigger ambitions — but the cost savings so far are difficult to pinpoint.
• Crowdsourcing the next NASA.gov. NASA is in the process of redesigning its website, and is seeking public input in the early planning stages. The agency is using Ideascale, a forum where users can submit ideas covering a range of topics, such as design and content, for NASA staff to factor into the new NASA.gov. This new effort, launched Nov. 19.
• ACT-IAC honors Reed, Turco, O’Neill, others for leadership. ACT-IAC presented its individual awards at a Nov. 28 General Membership meeting. The 2012 Janice K. Mendenhall Spirit of Leadership Award — ACT-IAC’s highest honor

Bueniess of Government

The Business of Government Radio Show: Kevin K. McAleenan

Federal News Radio 1500-AM
Mondays at 11 a.m., Wednesdays at 12 p.m.

The Business of Government Hour features a conversation about management with a government executive who is changing the way government does business. The executives discuss their careers and the management challenges facing their organizations.

Kevin K. McAleenanassumed the position of Acting Assistant Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations (OFO) on December 31, 2011. Mr. McAleenan previously served as Deputy Assistant Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations (OFO) since July 2010. OFO is the largest component in CBP and is responsible for securing the U.S. border at ports of entry while expediting lawful trade and travel. In this capacity, Mr. McAleenan is responsible for overseeing CBP’s antiterrorism, immigration, anti-smuggling, trade compliance, and agriculture protection operations at 20 major field offices, 331 ports of entry, and 70 locations in over 40 countries internationally, with a staff of more than 28,000 employees, and an operating budget of over $3.5 billion.

Broadcast Schedule: The show airs Monday, Dacember 03, at 11 a.m., and Wednesday, December 05, at noon, on Federal News Radio 1500AM WFED

If you can’t wait, though, you can listen to (or download) this week’s program and all our previous interviews at businessofgovernment.org and by searching our audio archives.