At the Crossroads of Public Service and Innovation

In the almost two dozen years that I’ve had the honor of working with Federal agencies providing Organizational Development consulting, I’ve been impressed with the quality of the people: their commitment to their jobs and the public they serve, and their interest in making broad leaps in innovation. In celebration of Public Service Recognition Week,Read… Read more »

Don’t Let The Insecurities Of Others Affect Your Dreams

You are going to be surrounded by others who aren’t familiar with the rules and tools for success. They are not going to know what you know. They are not going to be Success Rule Followers. Their level of success will be measured in terms of mediocrity. They will be quick to blame others and/orRead… Read more »

New Gettysburg Project Seeks to Bridge Research & Practice

We wanted to share the post below from the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation’s Challenges to Democracy blog highlighting an interesting new initiative to watch called the Gettysburg Project. Led in part by NCDD supporting member Dr. Archon Fung, the initiative explores the decline of public engagement and ways that we might improveRead… Read more »

Geospatial Intel Meets Entity Resolution: The Who, What, When, Where — and Quest for Why

Inspired by the many conversations we had at the recent GEOINT Symposium about how geospatial data can become an ideal pivot point for an entity resolution system, the time is here to transition from When and Where to Who and What –as well as the elusive Why. Eyes On the Earth Geospatial imagery abounds. ThereRead… Read more »

Want Better Citizen Engagement? Three Tips to Get There

Do you believe that the involvement of citizens in the management of the government makes government better? Are you willing to do things differently to reach a different segment of the population? One of the leaders I respect the most has often been heard to say that public servants are at their best when theyRead… Read more »

The Importance of Being Global: Cultural Competence in the Public Sector

A study on trends in cultural competence focusing on healthcare policy, practice and education cites cultural competence as a strategy to improve quality of care and eliminate racial/ethnic disparities. The aim is to “develop a workforce capable of delivering high-quality care and services to everyone regardless of race, ethnicity, culture or language proficiency,” state contributorsRead… Read more »

From a Truck Stop to a Home: How to Facilitate Community Connectedness

Government agencies partner with local residents to solve community problems, design new projects, coordinate beautification efforts, and keep lines of communication open. As a longtime city employee, I have worked on many community “outreach” or “engagement” projects over the years. One conversation I had with a resident had a profound impact on my work perspective.Read… Read more »

GSA, IAE, and Transparency and Being Open

Last December, the Integrated Award Environment (IAE) team laid out our core Architectural Principles related to our goal of bringing together the government’s systems that facilitate and track federal award activities. First among those principles is the requirement that “IAE Must Be Open.” On May 13, IAE will be hosting the third in our seriesRead… Read more »