What is your sense of the culture of your organization? Is it mission-focused, optimistic about succeeding and engaged in tackling difficult issues with an anxiousness to solve them? Or has it become a territorial, negative, bureaucratic enterprise where every opportunity is met with “we could never do that” excuses that roll off the tongues ofRead… Read more »
With few exceptions, I have had stellar colleagues aside whom I am proud to work. I’ve worked with teams to achieve tremendous results and quantifiable impacts based on our decisions, projects or action. Without unseemly boasting here, I have always felt that the taxpayer got more than its fair share from my salary. (Most days).Read… Read more »
The other day I was at the local outdoor market and I walked passed a man impeccably dressed in a white suit and tie, standing on a wooden crate. The man, from his makeshift pulpit, was sermoning passersby on the need to repent their sins given the imminent end of days. While many looked onRead… Read more »
The secret to usability is not brilliant design. Even the most talented designers have difficulty being creative on demand. Artistic talent helps but it is not a requirement. Anyone can create good, usable products. There are a few techniques to help you create good designs. One secret to good design is using iterative processes. YouRead… Read more »
Written with guest blogger Matt Roberts, Informatics Project Manager Inadequate information management leads to incomplete decision-making. Public health and healthcare decision-makers’ eyes routinely glaze over once information technology is mentioned. Return on investment is difficult to pinpoint, and millions of dollars appear to fall into IT black holes as the proposed product often arrives behindRead… Read more »
I suspect that I need to explain both these terms so here goes. Microservices The word Microservices has become popular recently as short hand for a particular approach to online services. The basic idea is simple. It is that when new services are created that they are sliced up into discrete parts that can operateRead… Read more »
Ready for your performance evaluation? Nothing stirs up the stomach like knowing it’s time to find out how you measure up at work. In some organizations, 360 degree evaluations are popular, while many of us receive monthly, quarterly, or yearly evaluations directly from our supervisors. Then there are those impromptu, informal evaluations where a supervisor,Read… Read more »
The goal of mindfulness is to be aware, moment by moment, of your body, your thoughts, your surroundings, and your motivations. While the practice of mindfulness originated in Buddhist meditations, secular use is very common. People practice mindfulness in different ways for various reasons, and many of the benefits are helpful in a work setting,Read… Read more »
I don’t know about you, but I live and die by my calendars. Between my smartphone and my Outlook calendar at work, my entire life hangs in the balance of these handy electronic schedulers. Rather than feel confined by this, I actually like it that way. I love being able to open my Outlook calendarRead… Read more »
I am currently a year into a fellowship with the CDC, a dream opportunity I remember applying for like it was yesterday. I was six months out of school and had a generic resume I would tweak for various positions. None of my friends had applied to the public sector, and I never had anyRead… Read more »