A Breakthrough Year for America

In last night’s State of the Union Address, President Obama covered a lot of ground around topics like jobs and the economy, immigration, education, and energy. As with many of these addresses in the past, regardless who was serving as our country’s Chief of Staff, there are several mixed reviews of what the President hadRead… Read more »

Alcohol and Your Security Clearance

Your use of alcohol and, more specifically, the following circumstances, can impact your eligibility for a security clearance: a. Criminal conduct involving alcohol b. Counseling or treatment for alcohol use c. Excessive use/drinking to intoxication There are various sections on the Personnel Security Questionnaire SF-86 which can elicit responses to determine if your judgment shouldRead… Read more »

EDUCATION REFORM ISN’T ENOUGH. WE NEED A REVOLUTION.

For the past few years, I’ve dedicated many of my nights and weekends to supporting California’s schools as a volunteer and director at two education nonprofits. That experience has solidified some nagging doubts about the foundations of our education system that began when I was a student in California public schools more than a decadeRead… Read more »

The decline of national sovereignty and impacts on society

The concept of national sovereignty has evolved over the centuries however has retained at its core the notion that nations, defined by geography, have the right to manage their own affairs and movements across their borders as they see fit, as well as to interact as recognised state entities with other states and other legalRead… Read more »

Pattern Sharing inCode for America’s New Website

This guest post was originally published on Clear/Thinking. Mike has written about the Code for America alpha website that we collaborated on: We chose to work with ClearLeft because they develop a pattern portfolio (a pattern/style library) which would allow us to scale our work to our Brigades. This unique approach has aligned perfectly withRead… Read more »

Govcamp is useless

It’s the Monday1 after the Govcamp before, the day Dave Briggs once described as the most depressing day of all, as the exhilaration of the event crashes into the realities of working lives. I like Govcamp for a long list of reasons I wrote about last year – I won’t repeat them here, but theyRead… Read more »

Is your message consistent with your intentions?

As we await the State of the Union speech by President Obama, I am reminded that on a periodic basis, I too, need to present state of the business updates to my employees and network of colleagues. All leaders need to update their team and key stakeholders. How often we communicate, and how consistent ourRead… Read more »

Unconferences, unplugged and uncut

Have you ever been to one of those conferences where you spend a lot of money, sit in the audience, listen to ‘keynote speakers’ and wonder ‘what am I doing here, why did I ever think this was a good idea?’ If so, an unconference might be what you need without realising it. So whatRead… Read more »