Posts By Bill Brantley

Leadership Without the Ego

Wired magazine just published a cover story on whether Steve Jobs’ leadership style should be emulated. I have my own thoughts on this which I will save for another posting but the article did remind me of a recent book on leadership that would be a great read for public sector leaders. In J. KeithRead… Read more »

Using the Constructal Law to Redesign Government Agencies

Ever since President Wilson established modern public administration, there have been numerous attempts to restructure and reorganize Federal government agencies so that they operate more efficiently while more effectively delivering services. I was in the Federal government during Gore’s Reinventing Government project and now I am back just in time for the Obama administration’s strategyRead… Read more »

What Does the Digital Government Strategy Mean for the Future of Gov 2.0?

Twenty-one months ago, I outlined four scenarios for the future of Gov 2.0. Here is a brief recap: SteamGov – The Federal government still uses large, centralized IT architectures and the average Federal worker’s work technology is less capable than the worker’s personal technology. Google.Gov – The Federal government is greatly reduced in size whileRead… Read more »

Introducing the New Data Science Group

“The amount of data in our world has been exploding, and analyzing large data sets—so-called big data—will become a key basis of competition, underpinning new waves of productivity growth, innovation, and consumer surplus, according to research by MGI and McKinsey’s Business Technology Office. Leaders in every sector will have to grapple with the implications ofRead… Read more »

Drupal Gov Days: Government By the Platform, For the Platform, and As the Platform

You hear a lot about platforms and how companies like Apple, Facebook, Google, and Amazon harnessed the power of the platform to become amazingly successful companies. O’Reilly, the tech publisher and visionary, argues that government should be a platform. So, what exactly is a platform? I think the best definition comes from Phil Simon’s TheRead… Read more »

How Do You Analyze Stakeholders?

Every project manager is advised to do a stakeholder analysis and there are several tools for analysis. I like to use the PRINCE Accounting System because it helps in understanding the stakeholders’ political motivations. As I discussed in my last project management posting, project managers need to be politically proficient to be successful in deliveringRead… Read more »

How Organizations Could Be More Successful – (Part Three of How Organizations Fail)

To understand how organizations can succeed, let’s briefly recap the lessons from the first two parts of this series on organizational failure. Part One –Framework for Analyzing Organizational Failure1) Every decision has unintended consequences for the future – latent conditions.2) Leaders often make decisions without a thorough analysis of the effects of their decisions.3) EmployeesRead… Read more »