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 »
Should government use Legos to inspire its reorganization approach? Structural reorganization initiatives – like the creation of the Department of Homeland Security — are slow, take an enormous amount of effort, and require years to become effective. Ultimately, the new structure becomes rigid and needs to be revisited. Many observers advocate creating more adaptable approachesRead… Read more »
Would “virtual agencies” be an effective alternative to traditional structural reorganization initiatives? If so, what needs done to make them happen? When Vice President Gore’s reinventing government team was being formed in the early 1990s, he encouraged it to not focus on reorganizing agencies and programs, but rather to fix what’s inside the agencies. HeRead… Read more »
Most often, when we talk about open source in government, it’s talked about in one of two ways: either it’s the pitfalls of the federal IT procurement model that can’t seem to comprehend a world in which open-source is an option, much less potentially a superior choice (“acquisition as a roadblock“), or it’s reiterating theRead… Read more »
I am sure that I will annoy more than a few people with my take on the matter. Most of my prior posts were intended as fun items, and were based on the book I wrote about my experiences in my 38 years with GSA. This post, however, is quite serious because things are gettingRead… Read more »
Cities, counties, and states should adopt a Restaurant Impossible model to transform their small businesses. Restaurant Impossible is a popular show on the Food Network where Chef Robert Irvine renovates failing restaurants in two days on a budget of $10,000. These restaurants are deep into debt, have lost most of their customers, and are oftenRead… Read more »
Seeing a number of senior officials in the last year “ousted,” I find it sort of scary the risks and travails that executive leadership can entail. There are so many good, hardworking people at GSA making progress for the Government in terms of property management, contract management, fleet management, and more, that it was aRead… Read more »
By Eric Rabe, Fels Senior Advisor In an announcement on Friday, Facebook said it is taking steps to prevent employers from getting access to the FB accounts of employees. It’s the right call. The surprising thing is that it was even a question. What is the implication for governments and agencies? Of course, Facebook isRead… Read more »
The political winds are blowing favorably for government reorganization for the first time since Jimmy Carter’s efforts in the 1970s. As a result, the conversation on government reorganization is shifting from “should we” to “how do we” reorganize. What are some of the lessons from past efforts? At one point, the advice was: don’t doRead… Read more »
President Obama asked Congress for authority to reorganize government in his 2012 State of the Union address. Several weeks later, he proposed legislation to do so. What is in that bill? What Is Presidential Reorganization Authority? Beginning in 1932, presidents were periodically granted authority by Congress to submit plans to reorganize agencies. Over time, itRead… Read more »