Why Does Congress Take a Five Week “Vacation”?

Congressional approval ratings have matched the all-time low of just 12 percent, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. That means that fewer than 1 of every 8 Americans thinks Congress is doing a good job. Much of this dissatisfaction is surely deserved, but far too many people have the wrong idea about whatRead… Read more »

Admit It, Customer Service Is Our Job

Well, well, well folks. It seems I’ve hit a hot button here: customer service. I cross-posted a post titled “Get to Know Your Customers on a Personal Level” to the NCMA group on LinkedIn. There strong feelings on both sides. Some think that contracting officers absolutely need customer service training. Some think that customer serviceRead… Read more »

Manipulating Blogs and the Internet

Http://LeonardSipes.Com Are blogs the journalistic scumbags of the internet? I just finished reading (for the second time) Ryan Holiday’s “Trust Me, I’m Lying—Confessions of a Media Manipulator.” Holiday heaps tons of slime on both blogs and the mainstream media. The premise of the book is something he refers to as “trading up the chain;” convinceRead… Read more »

US Government Takes down App Piracy Sites, BBES 10 will be backwards compatible and more

If law enforcement can cut down on pirated apps, Android will become a shinier target for developers Here is today’s top tech news. Three top Android piracy sites seized – The DOJ has stopped three large sites from distributed pirated Android apps. Developers for Android have long complained (and rightfully so) about the ease ofRead… Read more »

Save Your Project And Money With Agile

The FBI’s Sentinel project is a recently completed case study of the potential of Lean/Agile methodologies for managing government projects. “so fraught with miscommunication, incompetence and failed oversight that the entire debacle would have been a shoo-in for the most flagrant waste of taxpayer dollars since, well, ever” They were over-running and close to killingRead… Read more »

A day in the life

I’ve always worked in very traditional environments where there were either thinkers or do’ers. The do’ers were on the front line and did and the thinkers were behind them, researching, reading, discussing and then issuing strategies and directions which would then be cascaded down to the do’ers. My current role is a wee bit differentRead… Read more »

How Andrew Krzmarzick uses open source to empower citizens in government

Originally posted on opensource.com by Jennifer Wike and published using Creative Commons. As the Community Manager of GovLoop—a highly active online community connecting more than 50,000 public sector professionals, including Federal CTO Todd Park—Andrew Krzmarzick suspects his role is pretty similar to leading an open source project. The open source way guides the company’s decisions,Read… Read more »

Is a Disengaged Government Employee a Loyal Employee?

The answer may be yes! Studies show that while most government employees are satisfied with their jobs, many are not actively engaged in the performance and quality of their work. Yet, a hearty 63% of those public sector workers say that they intend to stay in their positions long-term. Factors such as leadership effectiveness, performanceRead… Read more »