Career

The Exciting Life of a Street Sweeper

I’ve never actually ridden in the street sweeper even though I’ve managed street sweeping operations in the past. But I can certainly imagine what it would be like. Day after day of driving about 10 miles an hour along the edge of every road carefully avoiding parked cars, pedestrians, and bicyclists. Then driving to theRead… Read more »

The Quickest Way To Deploy A Well Engineered Apache Hadoop Solution To A Production Environment

As a former enterprise CTO and current technology watcher, I was struck at the incredible brilliance of yesterday’s announcement by Dell and Cloudera. In a move that will help enterprises of all sizes serve a very wide range of missions, those two organizations have announced a new relationship that will enable something that has neverRead… Read more »

I would’ve eaten glass to get this job

Moving to the bureaucracy from the world of NGOs, for me, meant serious growing pains. I really, really wanted a job in the public service. I would have eaten glass in sharp, jagged pieces to make my casual position a permanent job — if my manager would’ve asked. I did whatever I was told, evenRead… Read more »

The Gamification of Public Works

Most people my age have been schooled with the “sit and listen” method. But today’s teachers are breaking out of that mold by tailoring lesson plans for different learning styles using gaming ideas and platforms. So to better understand this shift in education, I am taking a summer class offered through Boise State that focusesRead… Read more »

The Federal Coach: HUD Chief of Staff Laurel Blatchford on Risk Taking and Engaging Employees

Laurel A. Blatchford, chief of staff of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) since 2009, previously worked for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg first at City Hall and then at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). During her time in city government, Blatchford worked with agenciesRead… Read more »

Trainer as Leader: the Human Factor

It’s easy to think of the trainer as the leader–at least in the moment, but he or she is a leader in other ways, too–keyed to the human factor that makes the company work and its people resource rewarded and fulfilled. The trainer/leader listens to his audience and works with them. He or she teachesRead… Read more »

OPM Pathways Programs Proposed Regulation Live

This is big news in federal HR community – check it out – http://www.opm.gov/HiringReform/Pathways/ Regulations will be announced in Federal Register tomorrow. More analysis forthcoming. Forum discussion – What do you think of OPM Pathways Programs? OPM Issues Proposed Regulations to Help Recruit and Train Students and Recent Graduates Proposed Pathways Programs Will Help BuildRead… Read more »