The other day, as I sat among an honored crowd of Veterans, I wept quietly for a number of reasons. You see, my youngest children both are in schools where Veterans are honored in beautifully displayed ceremonies full of patriotic pomp and circumstance. I sat there as the only woman Veteran. I sat there asRead… Read more »
The mere mention of a meeting can send people scrambling for the solace of a long email chain. But meetings don’t have to be catalysts for eye rolls or iPhone games. Creativity is key. Within the EPA Innovation Team, we occasionally have walking meetings. I’m a big fan. Coffee meetings? Not as much. Despite meetingsRead… Read more »
This last weekend, I took a fiction-writing class with a local author, Ken Scholes. As we went around the room to introduce ourselves, a common theme emerged. Most of us thought we should be writing more words, we should be submitting more short fiction, we should be taking more classes, we should be reading moreRead… Read more »
What tactics can you use to get ahead?
John Godfrey Saxe, an American poet, introduced the Indian parable “The Blind Men and the Elephant” to a Western audience. In this tale, six blind men touch the same elephant, but each perceives something different about the animal. “And so these men of Indostan disputed loud and long, each in his own opinion exceeding stiffRead… Read more »
Can leaders in a democracy think beyond the next election? This is a key question posed by a New Zealand academic, Jonathan Boston, who is studying how different countries attempt to address long-term risks to society, the environment, and fiscal sustainability. Dr. Boston, visiting the U.S. on a Fulbright Scholarship, sums up some of hisRead… Read more »
Agency leaders and managers — stop what you’re doing – focus and engage! You’re looking at a whirlwind of challenges and problems that seemingly feed on each other as you drown in an ocean of HR calamities: It takes too long to hire someone You can’t attract the talent you need New employees are boggedRead… Read more »
In my last post, I spoke about how the US Postal Service is leveraging its existing expertise in the delivery business to begin a two-year grocery delivery test in San Francisco, CA, and how you can emulate them leveraging your existing skills by teaching what you already know. There are a number of ways youRead… Read more »
Nothing can be more frustrating – or costly to an organization – than team communication problems. As a manager, your job is to ensure your employees are up to speed on goals, priorities, and their assignments so they can perform at their peak. If you know you have good people, but you’re running across constantlyRead… Read more »
Every manager responsible for doing something different to get a better result must find a starting point. Much has been written about how to innovate, and good research informs us about phases, stages, and steps. Almost all of what is written comes from commercial innovation, but the basic lessons and best practices work in government,Read… Read more »