Written by Stacia Aylward and Stephanie Spence Diamond The Zelos team recently had the immense pleasure of collaborating with Steve Ressler, Founder and President of GovLoop, in executing his vision to engage participants in an energetic way at the 2013 Next Generation of Government Summit. Steve said something like, “let’s have something in the hallwayRead… Read more »
Have you seen the interesting article in the June Harvard Business Review by Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha, and Chris Yeh called “Tours of Duty: The New Employer-Employee Compact”? It gives us a new way to think about our careers – with an emphasis on increased flexibility. Instead of thinking of a career as a seriesRead… Read more »
We’ve all been part of the dreaded group project before. So you know there is always a weaker member, someone who doesn’t pull their own weight. The same phenomenon is true for inter-agency collaboration projects. Sometimes one agency just doesn’t give as much time or resources to a project as others. “One of the waysRead… Read more »
Sometimes my summer reading list takes unanticipated paths. . . . Here are some highlights from an older report from the UK that feels like it could have been written today! In 2002, British academic Jake Chapman wrote a paper for Demos, a UK think tank, entitled: “System Failure: Why Governments Must Learn to ThinkRead… Read more »
The number of government programs and initiatives operating today is probably incalculable. From national security to early childhood education, government programs address a vast landscape of policy issues. Amongst the crowd, a number of initiatives are tackling complex public challenges through engineering smart opportunities of collaboration and cross-issue policy integration. In May, the Ash CenterRead… Read more »
It’s time for us to invest in our future government leaders from the moment they join our workforce! Do you remember your first days when you became a federal employee? And do you wish you had someone to talk to or go back and maybe do something a little different? Are you just starting yourRead… Read more »
There are a great many insights we can get on the Federal workforce by looking at the Best Places to Work survey conducted by Partnership for Public Service, but one struck me as particularly revealing. In looking at the data from the 2012 survey, we can see that only four in ten Federal employees believeRead… Read more »
Cross Government Collaboration: Lessons from Superstorm Sandy Rear Admiral Steven Smith, Director of SBA Disaster Planning Unit Desiree Matel-Anderson, Chief Innovation Advisor, FEMA Marion McFadden, Chief Operating Officer, Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force Admiral Steven Smith, begins the Cross-Government Collaboration session with a illustrative anecdote. In 2008, after Hurricane Ike, he described a meeting ofRead… Read more »
It seems everywhere you look these days agencies are talking about the value of innovation. The need for innovation. The power of innovation. But taking the concept of innovation and making it a reality can be a big challenge, especially during the sequester. But actually fostering innovation can be a huge challenge. Seth Kahan. KahanRead… Read more »
The July 2013 edition of Contract Management magazine, published by the National Contract Management Association (NCMA), included an encouraging article on how communications between government and industry not only can improve outcomes and business relationships, but also show positive results to improve requirements and the opportunities for better outcomes overall. The article, “MythBusting – CommunicationsRead… Read more »