Even President Obama is sounding the procurement alarm

In last week’s Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Special Report, President Obama was asked what he has learned from the Healthcare.gov experience. In his response, he focused squarely on federal procurement problems, and particularly on the feds struggle in procuring IT, by stating, “[the] way the federal government does procurement and does IT is justRead… Read more »

Will VA certifications of SDVOSB go away? We in the Veteran’s community can only hope so

Recent contracting missteps, as reported by the Washington Business Journal (WBJ) and Microtech by the Washington Post, seem to have endangered the Veteran’s Affairs (VA) programs for certifying firms as either Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) or Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB). Although the current certification process is challenging enough, this recent issueRead… Read more »

What will future digital services in government look like?

On Wednesday I attended Intrepid Minds‘ Digital Service Delivery in Government conference. It was a good conference, with decent attendance and an excellent range of speakers (moving far beyond the usual suspects). At the event I gave a presentation on the future of digital service delivery – a topic which let me discuss some (andRead… Read more »

End the Code of Silence

Too often managers use the excuse of “maintaining good order and discipline” to mob an employee out of government for other reasons completely. Overusing or misusing the disciplinary process is rampant, with “mobbing” or gang harassment on the rise. The real reason for this is usually “retaliation”. Retaliation against a whistleblower, retaliation against an employeeRead… Read more »

POST RELEASE: Life After the Press Release Dies

It’s seven years since the ground-breaking post ‘Die! Press Release! Die! Die!’ was written. Tom Foremski’s this-can’t-go-on wail reads as powerfully as a Martin Luther deconstruction of one of the central pillars of the public relations industry. “I’ve been telling the PR industry for some time now that things cannot go along as they are,”Read… Read more »

Unleashing Your Power Within

“It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.” – Tony Robbins In Tony Robbins’ audio book, Unleash the Power Within: Personal Coaching from Anthony Robbins That Will Transform Your Life!, he says that all human behavior is driven by beliefs and beliefs carry consequences. So whatever you believe about yourself, willRead… Read more »