Jenny Knowles Morrison

Submitted by on Thu, 10/10/2019 - 09:17

Dr. Jenny Knowles Morrison’s body of work has focused on exploring the human dimensions of policy implementation processes. She is a three-time National Science Foundation awardee, focused on building new pathways to support social scientists in their efforts to transmit evidence-based social science innovations to relevant policy stakeholders. Her current attention is focused on evolving public service education to better address emerging grand challenges facing future public leaders. Dr.

Gordon Abner

Submitted by on Thu, 10/10/2019 - 09:14

Gordon Abner is an assistant professor in the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He received his PhD in Public Policy from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, Bloomington. His research spans the areas of public management, leadership, and political science. More specifically he is interested in the factors that shape citizens attitudes towards and perceptions of government and government employees, and the factors that shape the morale and performance of government employees.

Preparing the Next Generation of Federal Leaders: Agency-Based Leadership Development Programs

Submitted by on Thu, 10/10/2019 - 09:09

Successful leaders envision, shape, and safeguard the future, creating clarity amidst uncertainty. This objective is increasingly difficult in an era where rapid, unforeseen change seems constant. Agencies face serious public management challenges that go to the core of effective governance and leadership, requiring innovation, collaboration, flexibility, and understanding of the capacity needed to tackle complex, non-routine challenges.

Performance Management in Government: A Primer for Leaders

Submitted by on Tue, 10/08/2019 - 15:03

Governments are complex, multi-layered organizations and, not surprisingly, government effectiveness and efficiency have many dimensions. As such, we clearly need a multidimensional approach if we wish to create a government that works better, faster and more cheaply. Our approach should also be comprehensive, covering all aspects of government performance – static, dynamic, quantitative and qualitative.

However, the diversity that exists among nations and their governments tends to obscure three key facts.

Weekly Roundup: Sept 30 - Oct 3, 2019

Submitted by on Fri, 10/04/2019 - 11:28

John Kamensky

Agile Government. Federal News Network’s Jason Miller reports on federal IT policy and agile management.

A Hidden Corner of Local Government: Boards and Commissions

Submitted by on Wed, 10/02/2019 - 10:17

Yet boards and commissions are crucial to the effective and efficient delivery of services, complementing the more familiar local government structures consisting of city mayors, councils, and departments.

Revisiting “Gaming in Target World”

Submitted by on Tue, 10/01/2019 - 17:20

A recent article in Harvard Business Review reminded me of a favorite 2016 article in Public Administration Review by the British academic Christopher Hood, “Gaming in Target World.” Hood’s article recounted the problems created during the Tony Blair government when performance targets were widely used and tied to consequences affecting individual public servants.

Weekly Roundup: September 23-27 2019

Submitted by on Fri, 09/27/2019 - 12:13

Michael J. Keegan

Pentagon teams with GSA on AI Center of Excellence. The Pentagon's Joint Artificial Intelligence Center has partnered with the General Services Administration to accelerate government's AI adoption.

Introducing the Center’s New Visiting Fellows, Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene

Submitted by on Wed, 09/25/2019 - 14:54

Our Center has been interested in state and local government best practices over the years and we have partnered with Barrett and Greene on two previous efforts.  The most recent was, “Off to a Running State Capital Start:  A Transition Guide for New Governors and Their Teams,” which provided information to help gubernatorial teams move quickly and set the stage for a successful term in office.   Earlier, in 2010, Barrett and Greene authored a blog series cente

ERM for Mission Success in the 21st Century: Lessons from Research

Submitted by on Wed, 09/25/2019 - 10:15

The Center recently co-hosted a seminar on Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) earlier this month, in partnership with the Association for Federal Enterprise Risk Management (AFERM) and the Senior Executives Association (SEA).  Panelist experts provided an overview of “ERM in Action,” offered insights on private sector risk management tools, and shared the latest research on setting a foundation for successful ERM in government.  We have excerpted key highlights from the session in a podcast, and summarize key points below.

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