Candace Riddle's Blog (57)

There are no good ideas or bad ideas....there are only different kinds of ideas that suit different kinds of people.  What kind of lessons for management and innovation can you take from the Secret Sauce?

Well maybe not a bus...

But you are about to be hit by 6 tons of space junk, formerly known as UARS.  The satellite is expected to make impact sometime this weekend.  Impact?  Yes impact.

Most of the 6 ton flying chunk of expired scientific junk will burn up on re-entry, but according to NASA there will be several pieces that will be large enough to reach the ground.  No worries though...they have a 71% chance of hitting water (that is how much of the Earth is covered…

For the first time ever the U.S credit rating was downgraded by Standard & Poors.  It seems that the political impasse in Washington has acted as a spotlight, on our growing debt problem, to the rest of the…

I was scrolling around the WWW and came across a great blog titled The Art of Manliness.  Besides providing great tips on all things manly...from opening doors, to 5 great things to do with a rotisserie chicken...There was a post about being able to say "no".

As a young professional, I find it very hard to say "no" sometimes.  However, on the flip side of being the "yes woman" is an individual who is obsessed…

Today’s #1 Lesson

Getting Big Things Done: Answered by Aditya Kumar, Deputy Assistant to Vice President Joe Biden

Sometimes we are tasked with solving a problem, tackling a BHAG [see below], providing an answer, or managing a project that has never been attempted before.

I asked: “When faced with such a task, how do…

Dear D.C. commuter….you think you have it bad?  Be thankful that you’re not living in Los Angeles this weekend.  In an effort to widen the 405, Los Angeles will be shutting down an 11 mile stretch of the road to widen a bridge from four lanes to six lanes, as part of a $1 billion dollar road widening…

I wasn't sitting in traffic this morning.  I'm convinced that teleworking has alternative health benefits.  Trust me...I'm so much LESS stressed now that I'm not screaming and shouting at the guy that just cut me off on I-495.  And there are more benefits too...the guy behind me that almost suffered a stroke as I slammed on my breaks to avoid hitting the guy that just cut me off...yeah, he's feeling much LESS stressed now too.

All joking aside,…

Discovered this resource this morning on YNPNdc's Facebook page!  THANK YOU for posting!

Three financial aid resources for people in public service.  Includes a link to Heather Jarvis' new website.  She is an expert in Student Loan Forgiveness for people in public service.…

Please take a moment to tell the government how to hire.  As our leaders work to develop a new Federal Internship program, your feedback is valuable and can help shape the future.  Help YGL with our research by taking this quick survey.

Here is a great photo essay from Foreign Policy Magazine.   You might have heard that there is specualtion that man's best friend accompanied soldiers during the recent Osama Bin Laden take down.  Apparently K-9's have been hard at work with America's military and even part of the Airborne since the 1930's.

So....I hate to state the obvious from the pictures....but who pull's…

They say a picture is worth a thousand words...but there are not enough words to describe how wonderful it was to run this race in the company of friends and for the benefit of so many who are facing great adversity.

Well you met the team in "Govies Gettin Dirty for a Cause: Part I".  I'm happy to report that we all finished the…

FROM A PROFESSIONAL PROSPECTIVE

I’ve recently began looking into ways that public procurement can purchase goods and services in a more sustainable way.  By sustainable, I mean incorporating the social, economic, and environmental impacts that purchases can have.

As I began to look into this the Farm-to-School program emerged as a…

Democracy is fair play.  Perhaps a lesson that Congress should be learning right now?  It is afterall about compromise, give and take...fair play.

I was checking out Kerry Ann OConnor's posting  "I Got Furlough Fever and the only Prescription Is" where I stumbled across this video by Yared Shumete of Ethiopia.  This video was the winner of last year's…

In preparing to telework my organization has began to look at the employer's tax liability.  Unfortunately this seems to be a major hang up for telework, and one that the states cannot seem to agree on.  So far each state has defered to the other and the payroll company defers to the tax advisor and the tax advisor defers to the payroll company.  If anyone could please advise or point us towards some resources that would be great!

Here is the…

Earth Hour 2011!  March 26th 8:30 P.M.

If you weren't motivated prior to the crisis in Japan, perhaps now is the time to reconsider!  Get on board and join one of the largest voluntary actions ever witnessed that is now uniting the world.…

GETTING DIRTY - MEET THE TEAM

Four of Young Government Leaders' members are planning on getting down and dirty next month to benefit a good cause.  Trust us, by down and dirty, we're talking junk yards, mud, slop, old tires, and raging rivers.  Sound disgusting...these…

I will be brief in my plea for help on my current working project. I am making an argument in a paper that although consolidation of programs and streamlining processes might lead to fiscal efficiencies, these state and local policy efforts may also be promoting hidden fragilities and greater…

The recent events in Japan, and the subsequent danger looming from a possible nuclear melt down have some U.S. lawmakers calling for a review of regulations in the U.S.  This coming on the heels of 20 proposed new U.S. nuclear power plants that are awaiting approval, following a 30 year lull in new construction after the 1979 Three Mile Island incident.

Like it or not, we are facing an energy shortage in the U.S.  So what should policy makers do?  Give your…

Great blog post by Jason Busch.  Get the whole story here then tell us how you're using social media in procurement!

"Social media is all about connecting people who care about the same things that you do. Yes, you work in procurement. But you also work for a company or organization trying to achieve complex goals in an…