How to Be Grateful, Not Hateful
When we are grateful instead of hateful, it fills our hearts so we have more to give. In mental health care, we are faced with a lot of “What if’s”. What can you can keep after giving it away? Your word.
A Good Quote is More Interesting Than This Headline
Let’s start by admitting that, sometimes, all a reporter needs is a quote to finish a story. Any quote, as long it’s relevant and they meet their deadline. What they’d really like, however, are birds flying backwards. That’s the gist of a legendary quote used in one of my journalism classes, from a guy tellingRead… Read more »
What Government Agencies Need to Know About Emoji: Part 2
Believe it or not, government agencies have started to use emoji. So far, the little digital characters have been used sparingly, yet experimentation is happening. Emoji may or may not be the right fit for your agency. At the moment, they’re youthful and fun, and are often used tongue-in-cheek or with a dose of attitude. But, understanding emojiRead… Read more »
10 Great Podcasts for Government Employees
I love podcasts. Podcasts are a great way to get smarter while you’re doing the dishes, working out, or on your morning commute (unless you’re bike commuting in traffic, in which case I can’t recommend using headphones). Some of these will make you better at your job. Some will inform you about current events andRead… Read more »
Four Leadership Opportunities You May Be Overlooking
When I was early in my career I discovered the catch-22 of gaining leadership experience: to be selected for a leadership position I needed to show I already had some previous leadership experience. So I had to get creative to break the cycle and get my feet wet. If you find yourself facing the same situation,Read… Read more »
Women in Leadership: CEO Barbie
In November 2014, the Pew Research Center surveyed public attitudes regarding gender and leadership in US politics and business. They found that people see little differences between men and women when it comes to leadership. Both genders were equal in terms of innovation, ambition and decisiveness. The major differences that surfaced were women were seenRead… Read more »
The Ethics of Government Intervention in Environmental Change
Bioethics is a complex, necessary field of philosophical study. While our government has usually stayed away from normative ethics in favor of applied ethics, protecting the environment often elicits an after-the-fact normative question: “How ought the government have acted in protecting the environment?” With numerous federal agencies and programs set up explicitly to help protectRead… Read more »
Federal Agencies Must Focus On Emotion To Create Great Government Customer Experiences
Think about the last time you went through airport security. Or applied for federal benefits. Or paid your taxes. How did those experiences make you feel? What specific emotions did they invoke in you? Did you feel comforted, hopeful, and valued – or insulted, frustrated, and nervous? Questions like these are the most important thingsRead… Read more »
To Build Brand Equity, Develop Your Team
At the end of the day a good brand continuously builds its own equity – that is, a price differential between itself and its competitors – by doing three things well. They can be summarized by the following imperatives: 1. “Choose Me”: Help the customer make a decision quickly. 2. “Be Me”: Provide the customerRead… Read more »
Computer Crashes Cause Disaster in the Hospital Setting
When the computer monitors whoosh to black in a hospital environment, mass panic is the natural reaction. In a world where everyone is so utterly dependent on computer technology, a hospital can experience real difficulties when the computer system abruptly shuts down. Patient records, lab reports, prescription instructions and integral e-mails can all vanish inRead… Read more »