There is such a good story surrounding GSA, it’s a story of innovation and stewardship for the government. I feel that story needs to be front and center for people. I feel even though I am no longer in a leadership position at GSA, it is still a good thing to do, to carry thatRead… Read more »
Now that a semblance of normality has returned to Washington it’s time to ask an important question: What are the shutdown’s costs to the federal workforce? We know the tangible costs in terms of dollars. But what about the hidden costs which are more difficult to measure? In addition to lost economic productivity and America’sRead… Read more »
Originally posted on #GovLife. Last week I went to the William Eggers’ Open Forum at the Institute on Governance, where we discussed some of the concepts in his new book, Solution Revolution. I was involved in a discussion on the scalability of good ideas, which raised some topics that have come up in other conversationsRead… Read more »
In a FCW recent article, Nolan Jones, Director of eGovernment Innovation, NIC, discusses why the federal government must plan now for going mobile and states, “mobile implementation is unquestionably difficult. Yet, it also is essential.” Of course there are many reasons the federal government hasn’t fully jumped on the mobile train, despite the benefits ofRead… Read more »
This article offers unconventional tips to jumpstart business innovation. Using real examples from companies like Union Pacific, the article reinforces that the most effective leaders know when to think outside the box. http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/interviews/5-contrarian-tips-on-innovation/240154681 Personally speaking, last week my consulting firm, Boxer Advisors, completed two projects that helped clients find original strategies to A: address transformationalRead… Read more »
In a a recent blog post I shared some tips to get your employees thinking creatively. One of these tips was to encourage working in groups, sharing ideas (even the “bad” ones) and basically creating a culture of collaboration. Like encouraging creative thinking, promoting collaboration is often a lot easier said than done. With budgetRead… Read more »
Originally published on cpsrenewal.ca Or at least we will be, eventually. That’s the argument Kent made on Wednesday in What We Lost in the Fire, We Gain in the Flood, and it’s the argument I want to build on today. But first a quick recap of Kent’s line of reasoning. Street-level bureaucrats have traditionally beenRead… Read more »
This article was written after Dan Chenok, John Kamensky, and I visited GSA’s renovated building at 1800 F Street. The headquarters of the General Services Administration was built in 1918; shaped like an ‘E’ with its spine on F Street, the one-block building has recently undergone a massive renovation that has pulled the physical spaceRead… Read more »
Innovation is the hot buzzword. From local government innovation officers to a deputy CTO in charge of innovation, governments are more and more focused on innovation. But how do you really make innovation happen in government? What are the missing ingredients? I thought I’d take a stab at an answer so here’s my 10 ingredientsRead… Read more »
Crowdsourcing is one of those words that means different things to different people. For our purposes, Daren Brabham defines it as, “Crowdsourcing it an online distributed problem solving and production model that uses the power of online communities to meet organizational needs.” Brabham is an Assistant Professor at the Annenberg School of Communication and JournalismRead… Read more »