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 »
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 »
Last month, the Senate held a hearing on re-tooling government for the 21st century. What’s the background behind recent pushes to reorganize the government and how do they different from perennial calls to do so over the past three decades that have gone no where? The Senate hearing focused on recent U.S. Government Accountability OfficeRead… Read more »
RIM, the maker of the Blackberry, continues to flounder, and many organizations are rightfully moving their mobility solutions to the ever more capable iPhone and Android platforms. Changing the device has the potential to bring the latest technology to the organization, but the risk is that the device is viewed as a “toy” to handRead… Read more »
VA is soliciting Supplier participation in this fiscal year’s SRT Webinar to be held on Monday, March 12 from 1-3 PM EST. The SRT initiative is a part of VA’s broader effort to transform the end-to-end acquisition process which will capitalize on industry expertise as an effort to improve the VA acquisition process as aRead… Read more »
With budget crunches for the foreseeable future, GSA Administrator Martha Johnson says “Tough budgets should trigger innovation, not fear.” And for many government leaders, innovation means transformation of their work and their agencies. The IBM Center has released a leader’s playbook for guiding transformation. The IBM Center report, “A Leader’s Guide to Transformation: Developing aRead… Read more »
In today’s rapidly evolving business environment, organizations are often forced to remain competitive by adapting a culture of rapid change (I’ll offer up ideas on how to successfully accomplish that in a future publication). However, updating and communicating the organizations’ strategy to reflect these changes frequently doesn’t occur. A solid strategy is the cement andRead… Read more »
Change is never easy. Change is a bumpy process. But why is change so hard? Change is hard because it is an emotional experience for most. An emotional experience, particularly an experience one often has little choice in being part of, creates resistance. Resistance is a natural emotion, though an emotion that can make changeRead… Read more »
The strangest thing about coming for home for Thanksgiving break after 9/11 was seeing an American flag flying outside every house. People were walking up to me and thanking me for my service, which I found unsettling. The tiny suburb, just north of New York City, lost dozens of people in the attack on theRead… Read more »