Group Decision Tip: Freedom of Speech

In principle, to make good group decisions we need to hear all perspectives. We need be able to openly disagree with respect and civility. We need to have the courage to speak what’s on our minds and hearts even in the face of opposition. When a group’s culture makes it not okay to voice certainRead… Read more »

Steve Jobs for Govies

At first blush, the life of Steve Jobs has nothing in common with your typical government employee. Yet, a close examination of the Apple founder’s life contains lessons for everyone – even govies. From education to moving from on failure, the life of Jobs provides more than just inspiration – it has has practical adviceRead… Read more »

Everything’s Bigger in Texas: State Adopts Office 365 as Part of a State-Wide IT Modernization Strategy for More Than 100k Employees

Michael Donlan (Bellevue, WA) – The Texas Department of Information Resources is adopting Office 365 for more than 100,000 employees in the largest state-wide deployment of email and collaboration services in the U.S. The state will consolidate multiple systems in an effort to streamline and improve the state’s communication and collaboration capabilities across agencies andRead… Read more »

SOTU Recap: Rubio Beats Obama on Google, YouTube and SNL

It’s been nearly a week since President Obama’s State of the Union (SOTU) address. Yet many folks are still mesmerized by Senator Marco Rubio’s impromptu and awkward water bottle moment during the official response. By now, many millions of people know about Rubio’s water bottle debacle. He’s received so much coverage from both traditional andRead… Read more »

Gov 2.0 and public sector innovation needs both business and technology heads

At the Gov 2.0 lunchtime event last week (video coming soon), Darren, Manager, Media and Community Information, from the ACT’s Emergency Services Agency talked about how closely he’d worked with Richard, his technical lead, to create their social media presence and new website. He proudly told us the website had cost only $43 to build,Read… Read more »

3 Reasons to Cut Congressional Pay in Half

The U.S. Congress has done it again. On Friday the House of Representatives voted to reject a long overdue end to the two-year old federal pay freeze. In effect, Congress is punishing federal civil servants for serving the public. It should be evident by now that federal employees have been castigated too much, for tooRead… Read more »

Harris County Shooting Puts iWatch In the News

Teamwork between different law enforcement agencies is one of the key concepts to keep children safe. This was perhaps the most discussed topic at a town hall meeting held by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office last night. By Lilia Bonilla The meeting was held at the North Campus of San Jacinto Community College. Representatives fromRead… Read more »