Posts By John Kamensky

What Do We Know About Inter-Organizational Networks?

As Millennials join the workforce, they are bringing their propensity for social networking into the workplace. As a result, network-centered approaches to doing work will likely become more prevalent. Government and non-profits have already been pioneering the use of collaborative networks over the past two decades to solve complex societal challenges such as clean waterways,Read… Read more »

Empowering Citizens with Money and Social Media

The White House’s Open Government initiative encourages citizens to become more actively engaged in budget decisions in their communities.  How does this work in practice?  Do busy citizens actually get involved?  Inspired by successful efforts in Brazil and other countries around the world, several U.S. communities have undertaken pilot efforts to allow citizens to directlyRead… Read more »

Empowering Citizens with Money and Social Media

The White House’s Open Government initiative encourages citizens to become more actively engaged in budget decisions in their communities. How does this work in practice? Do busy citizens actually get involved? Inspired by successful efforts in Brazil and other countries around the world, several U.S. communities have undertaken pilot efforts to allow citizens to directlyRead… Read more »

Risky Business: When Government Takes Calculated Risks

Flood insurance? Bank deposit insurance? Pension guarantees? Home loan guarantees? . . . No private sector business will take on some risks that the federal government agrees to bear on behalf of the broader society – at least not at an affordable price.   So government, by nature, oftentimes puts itself at financial or reputationalRead… Read more »

Creating Organizational Self-Defense

Why don’t agency top leaders know about significant management problems in their organizations before it is too late? So-called scandals seem to be more prevalent these days, ranging from seemingly dishonest reporting of telework hours at the Patent Office or veterans hospital access wait times, to the safety of CDC labs, to lavish conferences atRead… Read more »

“Stat” Movement Turns Twenty

Harvard’s Bob Behn has been working on his latest book about the “-Stat” movement for more than a decade. I’ve been eagerly awaiting its release and told him I would read and share my impressions with others. In his inimitable response, he just asked that I spelled “Behn” and “PerformanceStat” correctly. Since 2001, Dr. BehnRead… Read more »

Accumulated Wisdom

The Urban Institute’s Harry Hatry is one of the pioneers of the late 20th century performance measurement movement. He has just released a new guide on transforming performance measurement that sums his best practical advice in one place. Harry Hatry is legendary. His indefatigable commitment to measuring government performance stretches back to his days asRead… Read more »

Goal Leaders: An Innovation That Works

I’ve been getting calls from reporters who are asking whether President Obama is interested in government management. But a management innovation he introduced in the early days of his administration is finally taking off. Sometimes it takes a few years to find out if a management innovation works. Background. Early in the Obama Administration, OMBRead… Read more »

To Trust – or Not

“Trust but verify” was President Ronald Reagan’s mantra during the Cold War. But today, “trust” is a key element to creating effective cross-agency networks to get things done. But what, exactly, is “trust,” and how do you know what to look for? Increasingly, addressing public management challenges requires the use of collaborative networks across aRead… Read more »

New: Progress Reports on Agency Priority Goals

OMB releases first quarterly progress reports for the 2014-2015 round of agency priority goals. The Obama Administration in 2009 directed agencies to identify a small handful of priorities that they would commit to achieving in a two-year timeframe. This initiative was embedded into the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010. Agencies are required to identify priorityRead… Read more »