Charleston Leads on Analyzing Data to Gauge What Works

Charleston Courier (Editorial)

“ . . . our leaders should always seek out good data and the most thorough possible understanding of complex problems, they should be cautious not to let data alone drive their decisions but rather to use data as a tool, potentially a very powerful tool, in informing their judgment on which course of action is best.”

New Quarterly Progress Reports on Federal Agency Priority Goals

U.S. Office of Management and Budget

Quarterly updates have been posted on 90 two-year agency-level priority goals for the FY 2023 second quarter. The goal period ends September 30^th.

We Used to Want Government to Work Well

The Bulwark (James Capretta)

The Government Performance and Results Act is important because it forced federal agencies to institutionalize some of the most basic requirements of sound organizational management. But it has been exceptionally difficult to use GPRA to incentivize real change in operational practices, for a few reasons. . . . real change will require flipping the script and allowing agencies to take the initiative.

These Were Not Normal Times

Government Executive

Interview with Bob Westbrooks, former executive director of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee overseeing the spending of $5 Trillion in pandemic recovery monies. He recently published a book on his experience, “Left Holding the Bag: A Watchdog’s Account of How Washington Fumbled Its COVID Test.”

The Cornerstone Indicators Initiative

DarkMatter Labs

A Swedish community co-developed and tested a new approach to citizen engagement and community-led development of well-being indicators as tools for citizen empowerment. This short blog series and PDF show how this initiative reimages metrics and indicators for community use, and how this might be replicated elsewhere.

Best and Worst Run Cities in America

Governing

By comparing the operating efficiency of 149 of the largest U.S. cities, experts at WalletHub, the personal finance firm, have come up with a score for which ones are managed best.

Explode on Impact

Medium (Toby Lowe)

It is impossible for organizations to “demonstrate their impact” if they work in complex environments. Asking them to do so requires them to create a fantasy version of the story of their work. Conducting “contribution analyses”/theory of change is useful to start a dialogue, but not for performance management. 

Webinar: Data Sharing Between State and Federal Jurisdictions (July 12, 1:00 p.m. Eastern)

Data Foundation

This discussion will explore the challenges and strategies associated with developing appropriate privacy protections when sharing data between state and federal entities, as well as how to create beneficial partnerships between federal and state jurisdictions to promote access and use of data for policy making. 

Resource of the Week:  What Do Evaluation Officers Do?

U.S. Office of Management and Budget

A useful resource page on the roles and responsibilities of federal agency chief evaluation officers.