Management
A Quiet Legacy: The Bush Management Agenda Continues to Impact Government
Robert Shea and Danny Werfel, Government Executive
Management reform should be nonpartisan, and it’s important to keep moving the goal post.
Agencies get even more performance management, disciplinary guidance from OPM
Nicole Ogrysko, Federal News Network
OPM has released new performance management guidance to encourage agencies to reconsider the concept of progressive discipline when managing employees.
The Performance Management Alarms Keep Getting Louder
Howard Risher, Government Executive
Government is overlooking a straightforward way to tackle its talent management problems—investing in middle managers.

Analytics/Evaluation
Where does the Federal Data Strategy go from here? Evidence panel members revisit ideas
Jory Heckman, Federal News Network
Former Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking members say it’s time for Congress to reconsider recommendations that never got off the ground.
Navy preparing data strategies to revolutionize future programs
Scott Maucione, Federal Computer Week
The Navy is preparing two major plans to make data management better.
USDA partners with Microsoft to make sense of farm data in new pilot
Dave Nyczepir, FedScoop
The FarmBeats platform can build machine-learning models across disparate datasets monitoring soil and weather.

Innovation
Why Agencies Need to Tap the Revolutionary Potential of Behavioral Science
John Kamensky, Government Executive
Traditional policy tools, such as taxes, subsidies and regulations, are not always very effective in changing social behavior.

Customer Service
4 ways to improve your customer experience, from agencies already deep in the trenches
Nicole Ogrysko, Federal News Network
Embracing culture change and appointing a senior leader to develop and manage a organizational roadmap are among the ways agencies can improve their customer experiences.
What Popular Government Service Providers Could Teach Other Agencies
Courtney Buble, Government Executive
First of its kind report looks at successful practices that could be replicated governmentwide.
Report: IRS Should Have an Official In Charge of Customer Experience
Courtney Buble, Government Executive
The agency could also improve its website and share more feedback, analysts conclude in first-of-its-kind report.