Posts Tagged: scandal

“On My Watch” – Martha Johnson’s Book About Her GSA Time (and the GSA Scandal)

The Thanksgiving lull was a good time for me to read On My Watch. I had retired well before Martha Johnson became GSA Administrator. I was there however, in a high level position, when she was Chief of Staff to GSA Administrator David Barram. During Mr. Barram’s administration, GSA, in my opinion, underwent the mostRead… Read more »

Do we over measure in government? Plus your weekend reads!

Leaders are trying to use measurements as their swimming goggles. It is the major technique they are relying on. My beef with measures is that we are not applying them proportionally. – Martha Johnson. You’ve probably heard the phrase, “measure twice and cut once.” But in government it seems like we are measuring eight times.Read… Read more »

The Rights and Performance Culture Clash – Part Three with Martha Johnson

“At GSA I encountered an insidious war between the Rights government and the Performance government.” – Martha Johnson. Back in the 1800s the US passed legislation that created the civil service. The objective of the legislation was change the civil service from a rewards system where you got your job just if you voted forRead… Read more »

Blockbuster Goals – Why “We’re Going to the Moon” Motivates – Part 2 with Martha Johnson

There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation many never come again. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may wellRead… Read more »

IRS Scandal

Ever since this scandal broke, on or about the 14th of May, I have struggled to see what the beef is, other than some effort by some to gain political traction for their agenda. The first problem I have: I don’t believe that any organization which engages in political activity should be granted tax exemptRead… Read more »

VA’s CHCO resigns in wake of conference scandal – DorobekINSIDER 7 Stories

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER: Sick of going to one government bureaucracy for a service only to get passed along to another and yet another? Wonder why government doesn’t communicate across agencies to provide a centralized service to you? New Zealand came up with a solution. You’ll meet the man behind it. Click here for theRead… Read more »

The Goverment Man Talks About the GSA Scandal (Again) and the Inspector General – Some Fun Stuff

My last few blogs departed from the fun stuff from Confessions and shifted to some caustic commentary about the GSA scandal with just a few barbs pointed at the Office of the Inspector General. My You Tube videos did the same. Given the recent well-publicized and hard to justify midnight raid on someone’s hotel room,Read… Read more »