When I interview candidates for vacant Civil Service positions, at some point in the conversation, the candidate asks, “Will I have the opportunity to travel overseas?” Traveling internationally for work, whether you are in the public or private sector, can feel like a perk. Yet often the purpose of the trip is integral to your jobRead… Read more »
What color is this dress? Black and Blue? Gold and White? Something else? Like thousands of others, you’ve probably already responded to the social media sensation about perception over the course of the last week. Did any of you get the correct answer? Perception is also incredibly important in the government community–not only to our employees, butRead… Read more »
Better To Be Prepared… Than Being Accused of Not Being Responsive To… “Shhh… ! We don’t discuss this here. Besides, it will never happen..” What am I alluding to, here? Workplace Violence. Even though we are all familiar with the phrase “going postal,” does your agency have a formal, up-to-date, policy regarding this type of situation? How aboutRead… Read more »
Is that email you’re about to send 100% perfect? Are you sure? Of course, you’ve checked off every best practice and made sure your subscriber data is correct, but at the end of the day, you’re only human. Sooner or later, you’re going to miss something.
Happy Monday, all! Anyone else feeling a little bleary-eyed and delirious after binge watching “House of Cards” in a dark room all weekend? No? Just me? Okay. Before locking myself in a room with nothing but my Netflix account and some sustenance to make it through the weekend, I actually did venture out into theRead… Read more »
Last week we looked at indicators that might be measured in relation to factors that can foster creativity and innovation in organisations. In this post we’ll consider possible measures of creative activity and the outcomes of creativity. Creative activity The measurement of creativity itself is arguably about monitoring ideas that are generated. This can beRead… Read more »
Have you ever heard of buzzword bingo? Where you and your co-workers make a bingo card of words or phrases like “touch base” and “data driven” and “Scalable” and “Proactive” and “Paradigm,” then head into a meeting and see who can hit a bingo? Well, it’s a real thing. I mention it because buzzword bingoRead… Read more »
There’s a lot of talk about innovation in the federal government, and with it comes talk of failing fast. The two go together in a useful, integrated way, but I hear little discussion of what either concept means. At least not in terms that managers can use. A definition of innovation I like is doingRead… Read more »
Bob Tiede (@bobtiede) writes on leadership at his website, www.leadingwithquestions.com. On his list of ten questions leaders need to ask themselves, Bob has this nugget about change: “When is the last time I abandoned a program?” Yikes! That is a tough one for us govies. We are skilled at identifying problems and developing solutions, whichRead… Read more »
When I found out I had been selected to participate in the GovLoop Blogger program, I was pleased, excited and slightly puzzled. What was I going to write about that the GovLoop audience would want to read about … every week? One of the first things I did was look through the website to seeRead… Read more »