Inauguration Bite: 4 things you can do to deal with the transition

Today is Inauguration Day and no amount of prep work can prepare anyone for the tremendous amount of changes that the administration will face in the upcoming months. Cabinet secretaries will be confirmed. Policies will be unveiled. And the new 113 Congress will get down to governing.

So what can you do? The career fed who is struggling with seemingly insurmountable uncertainty? Chris Dorobek on the DorobekINSIDER live program sat down with four transition experts. These panelist have not only been through transition but lived to tell the tale. In our hour long program they highlighted dealing with the transition during austere times, leadership challenges and technology woes. But for today, I wanted to focus on what they said you can do now to prepare. The one simple step you can take to make this transition go a little easier. For the full recap click here.

4 Ways Feds Can Survive the Transition

John Palguta (PPS): First of all, things are not the same at every agency. There are some real centers of excellence. You need to think beyond your agency/project boundaries. You find those success then you emulate them, adapt them and eventually adopt the best practices – whatever you do, don’t hunker down.

Alan Balutis (Cisco): I’ve written extensively on this topic. (FCW: Guide for Careerist) But my biggest piece of advice is to relax a little. You can’t control who’s appointed. You will perform better and be happier if you focus on what you can do.

Molly O’Neill (CGI): Stay relevant. There are a lot of reasons to not take action but if you can do it, it will set you apart. In-action will create far more problems down the road.

Dan Blair (NAPA): Leverage your assets. You’re not going to be able to get a bigger budget or expand much so focus on what you do well.