Nicholas Charney's Blog (185)

The real problem of facelessness

Originally published at cpsrenewal.ca…

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Added by Nicholas Charney on May 17, 2013 at 8:30am — 1 Comment

The Public Promise of Big Data

Originally posted to cpsrenewal.ca…

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Added by Nicholas Charney on May 3, 2013 at 9:24am — No Comments

Can bureaucrats be interesting when the world demands that they be boring?

In a previous blog on his former site (See: The World Needs Us to Stop Being Boring), newly minted co-author Kent Aitken, expressed his lament at the fact that the public service is rich with unrealized creativity, extolling that the world needs us (public servants)… Continue

Added by Nicholas Charney on April 19, 2013 at 5:33am — 8 Comments

Pivots, badges, a new contributor, and bureaucratic ipsum

Hi All -

You may have noticed things changing around the blog recently - new logos, new pages, the bio of a new contributor - in short, I'm widening the tent, bringing people in, and trying to branch out into a couple of different things.

First, last week's post (See: Big Data, Social Media, and the Long Tail of Public Policy) is a bit of a pivot in focus,…

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Added by Nicholas Charney on April 10, 2013 at 6:00am — No Comments

Big Data, Social Media and the Long Tail of Public Policy

Street Fighting…

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Added by Nicholas Charney on April 5, 2013 at 5:30am — 1 Comment

Using the disruptive web to your advantage

I'm excited to be off to Toronto today (vacation) to deliver a pair of workshops to students at Humber College. As you likely know by now I am very particular about my presentations. I spend countless hours agonizing over images, placement, word choice and the relationship between the different elements; here's what I've come up with (apologies but I can't seem to embed a Prezi here).…

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Added by Nicholas Charney on March 22, 2013 at 5:00am — No Comments

Thoughts on the disruptive web

I spoke to a group of civil servants this week as part of their development program's lunchtime speaker series; the talk covered a lot of ground and I wanted to take the opportunity to share some of my key messages from the discussion.

The web is disruptive

The internet has disrupted, is disrupting,… Continue

Added by Nicholas Charney on March 15, 2013 at 5:53am — 1 Comment

So I'm back at work now ...

So I'm back at work officially after a 6 week hiatus to deal with the implosion of my parental unit, it’s not pretty, there are sweeping implications, I'm exhausted, frustrated, and trying really hard not to let bleed into my interactions with my kids, my wife, and my day job now that I'm back in the office. But I'm seeing a counsellor through the Employee Assistance Program and otherwise… Continue

Added by Nicholas Charney on March 8, 2013 at 5:46am — No Comments

Update: One Month Later

Pic is unrelated, but awesome.

I won't lie, the last 4 weeks have been gruelling, and the situation is no where near resolved.

Luckily, I've got a broad network I can lean on for support, access to… Continue

Added by Nicholas Charney on February 22, 2013 at 5:07am — No Comments

I'm Going Dark

Friends, I am in the middle of a fairly difficult familial situation regarding my folks. I will spare you the details but suffice to say that you likely won't see or hear or see much of me online or in the office. I will continue to answer any inquiries / correspondence, but know that the ensuring the continued health of my family is my top priority. Thanks for your continued support.

-… Continue

Added by Nicholas Charney on January 22, 2013 at 3:31pm — No Comments

Some Recent Advice from an Assistant Deputy Minister

Earlier this week I sat down with an Assistant Deputy Minister of a major Canadian Government Agency to discuss employment opportunities, career progression and where I saw myself in the near to long term. For the record it was more of an informal discussion than a job interview, but the ADM did give me some advice I thought was worth sharing.

Be… Continue

Added by Nicholas Charney on January 11, 2013 at 5:49am — 2 Comments

Top 10 of 2012: A Year in Review

Before heading out for the holiday season, I figured I'd take a look back at the year that was. Here are the top 10 most popular posts on cpsrenewal.ca last year:

How to stop being tech support in 30 days …

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Added by Nicholas Charney on December 21, 2012 at 6:17am — 1 Comment

Cubicle Hacking 101

Welcome to the cube farm; pictured is my office, at least a small part of it.

I - like many of my fellow paper farmers - have been allotted an internal plot of carpet with no direct access to natural light. While paper doesn't necessarily need light to flourish, paper farmers do, at least this… Continue

Added by Nicholas Charney on December 14, 2012 at 5:11am — 1 Comment

On risk, fearless advice, and loyal implementation

I've been thinking a lot lately about the issue of risk and how it relates to the idea of fearless advice and loyal implementation. Admittedly, these thoughts aren't entirely formed yet so bear with me.

When it comes to risk, we are our own worst… Continue

Added by Nicholas Charney on December 7, 2012 at 6:03am — 1 Comment

Giving credit where credit is due

There have been a lot of really influential people thus far in my career, but one of the most influential has to be Etienne.

Etienne's now dormant blog on management in the public sector was an incredible source of inspiration and learning when I first broke into this… Continue

Added by Nicholas Charney on November 30, 2012 at 5:59am — 2 Comments

Debunking the "risk" of working more openly

I've heard a lot of chatter recently about how we (public servants) can't work in a more openly because of the "risks" of putting our information "out there". I've always tried to push back on people who hide behind the risk argument because, quite frankly, I feel as though their fears are vacuous, unfounded, and have yet to run into someone who… Continue

Added by Nicholas Charney on November 23, 2012 at 5:23am — No Comments

Two simple thoughts on innovation and leadership

Public sector innovators have the courage to look right when all their colleagues are looking left.

Public sector leaders recognize that courage, celebrate it, and do whatever they can to steer the rest of their organization towards it.

Originally published by Nick… Continue

Added by Nicholas Charney on November 16, 2012 at 5:15am — No Comments

Watching Government Sausage Get Made

This week (as part of my official duties) I had the opportunity to sit in on a meeting for the Senate Committee on Human Rights. It was an incredibly rich experience, and an…

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Added by Nicholas Charney on November 2, 2012 at 5:30am — 2 Comments

Where ideas go to live and/or die

I just finished reading Steven Johnson's "Where Good Ideas Come From" and it's an absolute must read for anyone interested in the sweet science of innovation; he's… Continue

Added by Nicholas Charney on October 26, 2012 at 5:30am — 1 Comment

What I did last night instead of blogging

I miss colouring; don't you?

I've been chewing on a lot of things this week; but instead of sitting down and writing, I sat down with some of the people that matter the most to… Continue

Added by Nicholas Charney on October 19, 2012 at 6:14am — No Comments