Max Stephenson From the Institute for Policy and Governance blog: “Some 30 years ago the eminent political scientist Samuel Beer wrote an article for the New Republic in which he questioned the implications for what he called the idea of the nation of then President Reagan’s declaration that “government” was the nation’s most pressing challenge.Read… Read more »
Annie Leibovitz, Plano, Illinois, 2011. © Annie Leibovitz, 2011 On Tuesday, January 24, a couple of hours before the president delivered his address to Congress, Annie Leibovitz presented her own state of the union to a sold-out audience at American Art’s McEvoy Auditorium. Hers was a photographic pilgrimage–a meditation on the poetry of place–that tookRead… Read more »
I work at the bottom of the transportation food chain. At this level, we have some very basic needs. Each year, we need to fix roads, and we need to find the money to do so. And for the first time in my career, Congress seems to be considering a transportation bill that might justRead… Read more »
We’ve all had group projects that haven’t gone quite as we would have hoped. In the end, some of the failed projects we participated in can lead to some incredible insights and help us grow as professionals and leaders. Based on my experiences in projects and working on teams, here are a few of myRead… Read more »
What have government agencies done to innovate procurement systems? What creative measures have been taken for successful procurement reforms? If you have a great story to answer these questions, bring it to the Procurement Innovation Challenge. The Challenge has just launched and invites members of the GovLoop community to share experiences in innovative approaches, processes,Read… Read more »
February’s Black History Week was established by historian Carter Woodson in 1926 to recognize the achievements of African Americans. Fifty years later under President Ford’s leadership, the week was expanded to a month now also known as National African American History Month. A history of African American achievements in Houston is beyond the scope ofRead… Read more »
“If you don’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” On of the first-order axioms of management, and a mantra of spreadsheet jockeys everywhere. Benchmarking. Balanced Scorecard. SEO. What do they have in common – they are indirect measures of effectiveness. For an artist, which is more important – the tack hammer or the paint brush?Read… Read more »
I recently wrote a blog, rather unlike my usual blogs in that I told the true story of fellow worker; in this case he had no way out of his current negative job except unwanted retirement or quitting, or death. It was called simply, Finding the Way Out of a Coffin That is Nailed Shut,Read… Read more »
Taking on a team of first line managers is a challenging transition in the leadership pipeline – although, according to Charan, Drotter and Noel, it doesn’t get a lot of attention. If you’ve been making the natural progression from managing Self to managing Others to managing Managers, then you’ve been making quite a few adjustmentsRead… Read more »
By Alex Moll, Communications Officer, eRulemaking Program Management Office Next week, the eRulemaking Program Management Office (PMO) will release the first installment in a series of website developments scheduled over the course of 2012 as part of a redesign of Regulations.gov. The substantial redesign aims to effectively re-launch Regulations.gov to meet the goals of SectionRead… Read more »