This morning I read an interesting report from IBM, Smarter, Faster, Cheaper, An Operations Efficiency Benchmarking Study of 100 American Cities. IBM provides a bleak report of local governments in the introduction, the authors state: According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), local governments in the United States are collectively facing a $225 billion structuralRead… Read more »
David Sloan Wilson’s Evolution For Everyone is a wonderful, important book on many levels. The book contains the story of a beginning evolutionary biologist’s stories of interesting fieldwork, then becoming an “Evolutionist,” expanding the study of evolution beyond biology, which creates a strain when a new field of study threatens many practitioners of older fieldsRead… Read more »
I know I find myself saying it – How is it already 6:00, where did the time go? Once I’ve cranked on some of my GovLoop tasks and ran a few wedding errands it’s already dinner time. If only there was a way to insert a “time out” (Zac Morris style) I’d be able toRead… Read more »
Today is an important day for the military, as the Pentagon lifts the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy. For the first time in 18 years, troops can “publicly reveal that they’re gay without fear of official retribution”. Enlistees who tell military recruiters, and troops discharged under the ban who are eager to reenlist, willRead… Read more »
Private companies such as Procter & Gamble, Apple and Amazon have achieved great success by tapping into the ideas and creativity of others to co-create products and services. The success of the iPhone, iTunes and iPad has been driven by the thousands of apps customers have created on the platform provided by Apple. The worldRead… Read more »
What kind of leader are you? Do you have a philosophy of how you evaluate others? You should. When trainers are finding ways of improving performance and leadership, there’s one topic we should cover but often don’t. How do we evaluate performance? It seems an obvious fit for us, but it’s a tough and touchyRead… Read more »
On August 31st, solar cell maker Solyndra unexpectedly closed its doors, laying off 1,100 employees and filing for bankruptcy. The Fremont, CA company had been considered one of the most promising solar companies in the U.S. The fact that Solyndra received $535 million in federally-backed loan guarantees has many questioning whether this collapse could haveRead… Read more »
This year’s International Public Works Conference & Exposition is being held in Denver, Colorado. The event opened yesterday morning with a welcome by the outgoing president, George Crombie, and a transfer of leadership to the new president, Diane M. Linderman. First General Session – Michael Hayden The first general session followed with keynote speaker, MichaelRead… Read more »
Anyone who read the Obama’s book, The Audacity of Hope will have been struck with the amount of time the then aspiring presidential candidate spent writing about public education policy. More notably, he seemed to acknowledge that any effort at education reform was likely going to butt heads with teachers unions at some point andRead… Read more »
http://media.csosa.gov/podcast/video/2011/09/television-commercial-for-csosa-and-dc-public-safety/ The Mayor’s Office on Cable Television (MOCT) created a commercial for the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency’s “DC Public Safety” television series in the summer of 2011 (see link above). It was distributed to 60 cable outlets. The DC Mayor’s Office of Cable TV (MOCT) films “DC Public Safety” for the Court ServicesRead… Read more »