Measuring leadership — and identifying federal agencies that breed effective leaders–has rarely been a simple undertaking. While the the Office of Personnel Management‘s 2011 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey captures a surprisingly comprehensive view on the state of leadership at various federal agencies, finding actionable measures of leadership at work remains an elusive science. That’s oneRead… Read more »
Last night, I attended a Women in Technology event titled The CIO/CTO Agenda 2012. Moderated by Christopher Dorobek, the six panelists’ candid and often humorous discussion covered many topics that included paths to success, current priorities, mobile communications, and vendor/contract relationships. My question to the panel wrapped-up the discussion: “Since all of you have beenRead… Read more »
With over half a million apps in iTunes, over 1 billion app downloads in Blackberry App World, & Amazon’s Appstore up and running, it’s hard to ignore the impact they’ve had on consumers. From Angry Birds and Uno to Handy Level and baby name generators, the app world has lit up countless mobile devices withRead… Read more »
Most companies, despite their best intentions (and even understanding of what a win theme is supposed to look like), fail to sell in their proposals. Win theme is one of the top five elements of proposal persuasion – and if they don’t work, it will be much harder to stand out. Time pressures force theRead… Read more »
Several weeks ago, as part of an ACT-IAC Acquisition Management Shared Interest Group (SIG) meeting, I volunteered to help figure out how our SIG could address a suggestion that was made by one of our government advisory team. The suggestion was to take a look at what value a procurement organization brings to their enterpriseRead… Read more »
Sprint has a reputation for being a leader in the industry when it comes to location-based services. For over a decade we have been helping innovative companies vastly improve the way they manage assets, track people, improve service levels and act as positive agents for societal change. The proof is in the expansive range ofRead… Read more »
According to the January 16th article in FedSmith titled Debating the Cost of Federal Employees, “Recent reports in the media … have sparked a debate about whether or not federal employees are overpaid at a time when the federal deficit is soaring. Federal employee unions contend that federal employees are substantially underpaid, whereas others argueRead… Read more »
Controlling an organization is difficult. The larger the organization, the more complex is the process of control. We don’t think about it too much, but what we are trying to control are changes that naturally occur. The drivers of changes are many and can be hidden in the layers of the organization. The internal driversRead… Read more »
As I was teaching our IDIQs and Task Orders course on Monday, we were reviewing the best practices for a quick and efficient proposal development process. One practice was conducting a proper kickoff meeting. After attending many proposal kickoffs (some of which included a proper breakfast and a long PowerPoint), and then watching a proposalRead… Read more »
In our current business environment should we train, not train, or delay training? That is the question. All one has to do is listen to the news, look at a magazine or newspaper, or attend a meeting with management to confirm that the government is in a period of significant budgetary challenges. Although we mayRead… Read more »