5 Things Federal Employees Cannot Change

“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” – Robert Frost Why is it that despite our best efforts, many of us are still unhappy and unfulfilled in our lives/careers? Author David Richo says the key to happiness is to accept difficult realities, drop our resistance to them,Read… Read more »

The End of the 2013 Fellowship

Today we wrap up the 2013 Fellowship year at Code for America. Over the past two weeks, we have transitioned apps, transitioned partner relationships, and celebrated accomplishments. We have reflected on the year, on the program and on the lasting impacts that the Fellows have had on local government. Now it is time to sayRead… Read more »

Making Strategic Decisions

Research on decision-making has made advances in recent years, but the research has not been applied to the actual practice of decision-making, observes Swiss professor Phil Rosenzweig in a recent article in the November issue of Harvard Business Review. Dr. Rosenzweig says in his article this is not because executives don’t want to make goodRead… Read more »

Antelopes grazing in the open plan

Here’s another interesting talk on the office working environment, this time from Ben Hammersley. Ben talks about the impossibility of reaching the flow state necessary for any kind of thoughtful work in an environment of constant interruptions, and about the adrenaline levels needed to sustain vigilance against the predators of open plan. We have optimisedRead… Read more »

Reminder about tomorrow’s NCDD Confab on Rockefeller’s GATHER

Don’t forget to register for tomorrow’s confab call! From 2:00 to 3:00 pm Eastern on November 20th, we’ll be talking with Rob Garris and Noah Rimland Flower about the Rockefeller Foundation’s new publication GATHER: The Art & Science of Effective Convening. The Rockefeller Foundation and Monitor Institute released GATHER earlier this year as a freeRead… Read more »

Seven Coffeeneuring Trips in Washington, DC

Perfect cappuccino at Peregrine Espresso on Capitol Hill. When I first looked into the Coffeeneuring Challenge, I thought to myself: so many rules! You can tell it’s a contest created by a Washingtonian. But the strictures were good-natured and amusing, a Byzantine level of complexity that obscured a simple idea: Bike to seven coffee shopsRead… Read more »

Widening the Aperture of Acquisition & the Acquisition Team

By Mike Ipsaro PMP, CCE/A, Technical Director Today’s fiscally constrained environment is being felt in many places, including acquisition. The Federal Government spends billions to execute its missions through acquisitions. After talking with one of my colleagues about the impact on the acquisition discipline, she astutely said “though resources may be narrowing, the way youRead… Read more »