Join Me on Federal News Radio Tomorrow Morning, As I Discuss the “Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act of 2014” and What it Could Mean For Feds!

Listen live to my radio interview tomorrow morning about U.S. House of Representatives’ Bill H.R. 4031 – the “Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act of 2014” and what it could mean for federal employees at VA and in other federal agencies. To hear that interview, tune in to the “Legal Loop” segment of theRead… Read more »

Community Engagement: Lessons from Boston

Around the country, folks are making the road by walking when it comes to civic innovation and they’re forming new relationships in the process. At Code for America, we get excited when people participate in the democratic process in meaningful and interesting ways. Two projects in Boston show the importance of collaboration between residents andRead… Read more »

The Real Measure of Social Media Success: Going Beyond Likes and Retweets

If you have been involved in anything with a social media component this past year, then you have no doubt heard people talking about social media metrics, ROI, ROE, etc. These are basically different measures that people are using to define success, or failure, in the use of social media channels. Not too long ago,Read… Read more »

When Generous People Give More Than Money

How do you define generosity? Saturday evening, I attended a fundraiser to support a local animal shelter, Mutts Matter Rescue. Sunday morning, after a steaming cuppa’ Joe, I sat down to catch up on various periodicals in preparation for the business week. An article in the online Inc. Magazine caught my eye titled “How TrulyRead… Read more »

The Path Towards International Aid Data Standards

Open data is more than just a national concern, as countries often share and compare information with each other. Thus, calls for transparency must also extend internationally. As you may recall from a previous post, one of the requirements outlined in out government’s National Action Plan (NAP) is that foreign aid funding be reported inRead… Read more »

For a Truly Open Parliament, Look to the UK

The UK Government has just released the alpha version of data.parliament.uk – – a site designed to host open data on the UK Parliament and its proceedings. (An Alpha for those who don’t understand the term is a first release of a software product that is usually tested only by the developers). The alpha releaseRead… Read more »

Digital DIY: Penny Wise and Pound Foolish?

For a host of reasons, many organizations have been taking a Digital DIY (Do It Yourself) approach to pursuing technology initiatives, both externally and internally. Though the motivations for these approaches are understandable and seem logical on the surface, more often than not they are suboptimal strategies that aren’t in an organization’s best interests. ARead… Read more »

7 Tips to Get Motivated — Using Your Personality Type

Motivation is tricky. Many great blogs like Doris Tirone’s post talk about the dangers of believing a supervisor alone can motivate someone to be more efficient. External (extrinsic) motivators like money or praise are helpful, but internal (intrinsic) motivators are stronger and salient. One of the tools I have found most useful to understanding intrinsicRead… Read more »

A Health System and Government Collaborate to Reduce Preventable Chronic Disease

Diabetes is a complex chronic disease, suggested to be caused by a combination of genetic, behavioral and environmental factors. According to the 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (CDC), 8.1% of the adult population of Chicago is estimated to have diabetes, a trend that has remained relatively unchanged over the past ten years. In lightRead… Read more »

5 Ways to Develop Those Elusive “Soft Skills”

Your job requires a certain level of technical proficiencies and knowledge – “hard skills” that you’ve learned in school and on-the-job trainings. But how do you develop those harder to define “soft skills” like charisma, active listening, communication skills, time management, and optimism? Soft skills complement your hard skills, and are just as crucial anRead… Read more »