Software that is accessible by a large number of people often produces unexpected benefits due to its inherently collaborative nature. In New Delhi, overburdened traffic police have gained an incredibly cost-effective method of catching traffic violators. Thanks to New Delhi drivers who snap pictures of offenders and post them to the traffic police’s official FacebookRead… Read more »
Our recent June 29th derecho event, featuring lightening, thunder, rain, wind, trees falling, and power lines failing, has provided yet another opportunity for people in the Washington, DC area to experience what the Federal government calls “unplanned telework.” As it did when our area suffered through snowstorms and earthquakes, the government provided employees with theRead… Read more »
How do you tackle a large-scale, complex challenge that evolves over time, involves thousands of stakeholders, and where there is no clear solution? For example, is there a road map for how the Internet evolved? Could we do it again? IBM Center author David Witzel examines the evolution of the Internet over the past fourRead… Read more »
What works when developing a cross-agency collaborative network? A six-year long study of 266 existing collaborative networks of public safety organizations distills valuable lessons for how to design and sustain similar networks in other policy arenas. Professors Jane Fedorowicz and Steve Sawyer have authored a new report, “Designing Collaborative Networks: Lessons Learned from Public Safety,”Read… Read more »
In principle, when we look at people in certain ways, place labels on them, or “put them in boxes,” it limits what they have to offer. It is especially tempting to “contain” those who disagree with us. We’re tempted to ignore our adversaries, work around them, wall them off, shut them down. These techniques mightRead… Read more »
I always have to scratch my head at the curiosity of how the federal government operates in regards to budgetary matters. Although commercial best practices are all the rage in government, such as trying to leverage technologies and become more efficient, innovative, and agile, the one area that always seemed to be polar-opposite was theRead… Read more »
In line with its mission to ensure the careful use of Federal funds, OMB issued guidance on 5/11/12 to Federal agencies that requires them to make more efficient use of existing government real estate — in effect, “freezing the Federal footprint.” In a roundabout way, this is good news for Telework fans. By requiring agenciesRead… Read more »
One of the biggest reasons managers give for resisting the implementation of telework policies is that they do not believe that their employees will “really” work when they are not in the office. Those of us who have embraced a more flexible work design may consider this an “attitude adjustment” problem – on the partRead… Read more »
What are the key issues facing collaboration-minded managers in government? Two thoughtful academics identify what they think are the Top Ten and offer some advice on areas for future research. Drs. Rosemary O’Leary and Nidhi Vij presented a paper at the recent annual conference of the American Society for Public Administration, “Collaborative Public Management: WhereRead… Read more »
Are there legislative options beyond (or in addition to) presidential reorganization authority that could encourage collaboration and not just move boxes? Typically, the cultural, administrative, and legal barriers to working together collaboratively inside the federal government are too high and they discourage efforts to collaborate (more on this in a future post). The Obama AdministrationRead… Read more »