{Personality Tests} Don’t Give Me That “I”!

People are complex, variable and unpredictable. I like to think that we are more sophisticated than any 9-box grid, True Colors or personality test could ever hope to encompass. I feel violated when a marketer gets lucky and I suddenly “need” something I didn’t know even existed a few minutes earlier.   Nonetheless, personality testsRead… Read more »

Try Crowdsourcing: No Surprises on Election Day

It’s no surprise that local governments are utilizing crowdsourcing to solve some of their biggest problems. Crowdsourcing, after all, uses some of the same basic tenets as democracy: where the decisions that serve a body are governed by the majority. Crowdsourcing is being used as a means to allocate budgets, cut waste, and solve longstandingRead… Read more »

Empowering Citizens with Money and Social Media

The White House’s Open Government initiative encourages citizens to become more actively engaged in budget decisions in their communities. How does this work in practice? Do busy citizens actually get involved? Inspired by successful efforts in Brazil and other countries around the world, several U.S. communities have undertaken pilot efforts to allow citizens to directlyRead… Read more »

Mobile Apps: The New Security Breach

Imagine a bright red Lamborghini parked outside of your front door and a sign right next to it screaming “FREE!” Initial reaction….Score! Secondary reaction……What’s the catch? With a little bit of healthy skepticism, you might reach the conclusion that the new gift may come with a hidden price tag. Because of the high market purchaseRead… Read more »

How to Create a Success Portfolio That Will Win Over Interviewers

By Lily Whiteman, author of “How to Land a Top-Paying Federal Job”; speaker on career issues; twitter: @Lilymwhiteman Although it doesn’t say so on the invitation, every job interview is really a Bring Your Own Success Portfolio —BYOSP—event. What is a success portfolio? A collection of tangible materials that validates your qualifications and proves thatRead… Read more »

Find a Simple Problem – and Fix It

There are a lot of problems out there that need fixing. Some are big, and complicated. Others are quite small, and simple. Why not try picking one of the small and simple ones, and fix it? Back in 2007, I started a new job in local government. I was a risk manager! I hadn’t beenRead… Read more »

Focusing on Goals Increases Payoff of Analytics – A Conversation on Big Data

For several years, IBM and the Partnership for Public Service have partnered to bring lessons learned from industry leaders in the use of Big Data Analytics to our readers. This year we had a series of Conversations on Big Data, a Podcast series of discussions about using analytics in a number of creative and interestingRead… Read more »

State of Being as a Peninsula

Have you ever thought of yourself as an island? That you are surrounded by those that do not get you, try to tear you down, and are uninterested in your plight. Perhaps the seas around you are rough and you are just trying to brace for what you feel is the impending metaphorical meteorological calamityRead… Read more »