In my newspaper reporting days, when I started really digging into stories, I would run into two basic types of sources. One type would decline comment or be defensive, even if the news story is directly about them. Sometimes it was carried to an extreme, such as an encounter I had way back in theRead… Read more »
By now we all know that federal customer experience (CX) is disastrously weak, and that improving it will boost both agency operations and the health of the political system. We’ve also seen some pockets of hope popping up, as I predicted a few months ago. For instance: The Department of Education’s new portal is complete,Read… Read more »
For many people, staying the course, especially if things are going well, is the safest and easiest way forward. Moving away from the status quo and “the way it’s done” is difficult emotionally as well as intellectually. The same can hold true for federal agencies. As much as leadership may want to embrace change and… Read more »
Change is constant. The best government leaders know how to make it an expectation, rather than something to be feared.
When I got my first career-path job after college, there was a lot I didn’t know about working in an office full of people who came from different backgrounds. I’d just moved to California and my New York communication style could come off as brash and blunt. I was often defensive and I unintentionally put people on the defensive.Read… Read more »
Originally posted on the GovDelivery blog. You have learned how to create and implement organizational objectives and develop a target audience. The next step is to unfold your brand.Step three of the public engagement series will give you a better understanding of what branding means to government organizations and how to set a foundation for allRead… Read more »
There are four different generations working in government today—Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials. When approaching working outside of our own generation, we often have a tendency to rely on stereotypes (i.e. Traditionalists will never accept change and Millennials are unreliable job hoppers) and that can ruin great partnerships before they ever get started.Read… Read more »
Agencies today are being asked to do a lot with their data. With information generated by new sources – from social media outlets to mobile devices – agencies must store, monitor, organize, access, and, most importantly, make sense of data in a way that allows them to best serve the American citizenry. The data centerRead… Read more »
This nontechnical riddle took me a while to figure out. This saying floats around in the halls and offices of every building. For me, it resounds on all occasions when I have met with management. Agencies’ management is whipsawed between necessary compromise to face budget cuts and changing priorities at the same time. Compromise, inRead… Read more »
“I’m supposed to be the soldier who never blows his composure Even though I hold the weight of the whole world on my shoulders I ain’t never supposed to show it, my crew ain’t supposed to know it …I’m supposed to set an example I need to be the leader, my crew looks for meRead… Read more »