“I like your creativity and where this is going, but…” It doesn’t even matter what your boss says next—she’s already decided that your idea is awful. Your fate was sealed the moment she uttered ‘but.’ The praise before that dreaded conjunction does nothing to soften the blow. As the old adage goes, everything before theRead… Read more »
If you want to know about major innovation in the public sector then look to NASA. The space agency is a crown jewel of government innovation and a global role model for groundbreaking scientific research and discovery. NASA serves as a reminder to America of what’s possible when Uncle Sam harnesses his full potential, asRead… Read more »
Think back to when you were a kid. You had an idea and you knew it was right. The system for chores wasn’t good enough. You KNEW that if you and your sibling worked together the way YOU wanted the chores could get done easier and faster. Once you came up with a plan toRead… Read more »
The ubiquitous all-nighter is like an inside joke among workaholics, a contest to see who is the most productive with the least amount of sleep. Sleep is for the weak, caffeine is life. Those who stay up all night bow to no one—not the sun, not the clock, and more certainly not the REM cycle.Read… Read more »
One of the best things I’ve read recently is Grant Vergottini’s Imagining Government Data in the 21st Century where he lists and then explains seven characteristics of “data transparency”: The data must be available. The data must be provided in such a way that it is accessible and understandable by the widest possible audience. TheRead… Read more »
In advance of the Afghan Presidential election run-off scheduled for June 14, Larry Sampler, assistant to the USAID Administrator for Afghanistan and Pakistan join me on The Business of Government to explore how USAID has sought to promote stability and order in Afghanistan and what is USAID’s three-fold transition strategy. The following is an excerptRead… Read more »
Cloud based communication and collaboration services help you ease into the daunting world of cloud-based services by using the most mature product. These products offer rich features at a low price without the hassle of managing the infrastructure. The major players are Google Apps for Government and Microsoft Office 365. I have used both andRead… Read more »
Space: the final frontier. When you look into the night sky, up at the stars, you can’t help but dream of exploration. A trip to the moon. A map of the constellations. A ride on a solar flare. But in 2011, NASA changed the space game: they terminated the space shuttle program. But that didn’tRead… Read more »
The second week of June is Email Week. To pay respect to my former “you’ve got mail” addiction, I’m focusing this week’s blog on email. I need to provide this caveat, any similarity to real person or real events is coincidental and for educational purposes only. Let’s begin. Imagine you are the sole survivor, theRead… Read more »
How do you get in on the ground floor of big data? Programming? Statistics? Research experience? Last week I questioned the idea of leaving behind our traditional models of data analysis in favor of big data. Much like being the last kid in your grade school class to get the famed New Kids on theRead… Read more »