The Obama Budget Simplified
If the Paul Ryan budget, in nine words, was: "Save the rich; Forget the poor; Spare the old" President Obama's budget, in nine words, is: "Tax the rich; Spare the poor; Remember the young" The contours of the president's plan will be familiar to budget nerds, because he's been cooking up different ... Read & React
How to Make Working Outside Work for You
The desire comes around at a certain time of year, when it's just starting to get nice, when the office workers of America and beyond have been cooped up for far too long in the too-cold (or too-hot, depending on who's controlling the thermostat) confines of their cubicles. Working outside! Can we ... Read & React
3 Governments Playing on Human Nature to Improve Program Performance
How an issue is framed can strongly influence how a person responds. This insight has led to whole new fields of economics and social science called “behavioral economics” or “behavioral interventions.” Government managers, however, can use these new approaches to dramatically improve the ... Read & React
The Rutgers Basketball Fiasco: Leadership, Responsibility and Accountability
If you follow sports or even just the news in general, you’ve likely seen the video of Rutgers men’s basketball coach Mike Rice shoving his players, hitting them with thrown balls and screaming homophobic slurs at them during practices last year. Make that former Rutgers basketball coach Mike Rice ... Read & React
11 Things You Didn't Know About Drinking Coffee at Work
The cardinals who gathered at the Vatican last month took a very important daily pause during their deliberations to choose a new pope. “There’s a coffee break for about 30 minutes at a special buffet area in the front part of the audience hall,” the Rev. Thomas Rosica told CNN. “Cardinals have an ... Read & React
Federal Leadership is on the Decline
Federal employee satisfaction with their leadership is low and slipping, according to new analysis from the Partnership for Public Service and Deloitte. Federal employees have given effective leadership low marks in the Best Places to Work in the Federal Government ® rankings over the past several ... Read & React
Be Less Boring: The 4 Best Alternatives to PowerPoint
Microsoft's PowerPoint is a part of every fed’s daily life. A tool that, with side effects akin to visual NyQuil, turns even the most high-energy group into a room full of yawning Prince Valiums (Spaceballs, anyone?). Nobody likes it. Everybody uses it. Even fewer have mastered its complex user ... Read & React
The 5 Agencies with the WORST Leadership in Government
Last week, Government Executive reported that federal employees are losing faith in agency leadership. The Partnership for Public Service, a non-profit that has compiled data on the best places to work in government since 2003, recently reported that 2012 scores showed effective agency leadership ... Read & React
The 5 Agencies with the BEST Leadership in Government
While recent reports have shown that federal employees are losing faith in agency leadership, there are some bright spots to report in how feds are viewing leadership of their organizations. Hidden in the Partnership for Public Service’s newly released analysis last week is data that shows the ... Read & React
What You Can Learn from Google's Most Popular Training Course
In this installment of Mindful Mondays, I’m sharing two resources brought to us by Google’s Jolly Good Fellow, Chade –Meng Tan. Even though he started out as an engineer at Google, Jolly Good Fellow is Meng-Tan’s job title today. He earned it by coming up with the most popular internal training ... Read & React
Furlough 'Consistency and Fairness'
Innovation in Government Dips
TSP Funds Stay Positive in April
5 Agencies with the Most Disconnected Leadership
No Bonuses for VA Benefits Execs
Will You Be Furloughed?
