|
COALITIONS AND COMPROMISES
At a postal
conference in San Diego, shortly after his appointment to postmaster
general in 2001, John Potter met with basketball legend Bill Russell,
who was speaking at the conference about mentoring. Potter recalled
sharing with Russell some of the plans he had for the Postal
Service.
HIGH CULTURE
Each federal agency has its own
distinctive culture, a sense of “that’s the way we do things
here.” Some agency management cultures don’t change much from
year to year. Other agencies adapt more nimbly to changes in leadership
or resources. At the Defense Intelligence Agency, for example, the
management culture has changed considerably over the years, said Louis
Andre, DIA’s chief of staff.
VA’S MODEL OF SUCCESS
There was a time
when the last place any veteran could expect good, basic health care was
at a government hospital. And the dismal reputation wasn’t just in
the mind-set of vets and their families. Think back to the movies
“Born on the 4th of July” and “Coming Home.”
ENLIGHTENED ENTERPRISE
As the agency that
audits other federal agencies, the Government Accountability Office has
to have a leadership and management culture that is “as good or
better than anybody else in government.” By most accounts, GAO,
under David Walker's, has built one of the most progressive management
cultures in government.
INTO THE SUNSET
Rob Portman, director of the
Office of Management and Budget, hopes the PMA is here to stay. He says
the next president, regardless of party affiliation, should adopt the
President’s Management Agenda and continue to press ahead on its
goal of improving management in the federal government.
ROBERT D. BEHN | COMMENTARY: METRIC MISGIVINGS
One of the traditional mantras of management—both public and
private—has been: “What gets measured, gets done.” The
implication of this aphorism is obvious: If you measure it, people will
do it.
ON THE ROPES
First, the bad news about turf
battles in federal agencies: They still exist. In fact, they’ve
become more common than ever with the proliferation of chief executive ,
or CXO, titles over the past decade.
|
