ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

Performance Management
The Truth About Government Performance
Tom Shoop, Government Executive
What do we have to show for more than two decades of focus on results?

Analytics/Evaluation
12 Ways for Congress to Step Up US Data Innovation
Hallie Golden, Nextgov
As data becomes more important in shaping the country’s day-to-day decision-making, the Center for Data Innovation has some ideas for how Congress can fast track U.S. data innovation.
How to Successfully Harvest Value from Open Data
Jason Shueh, Government Technology
Experts offer advice on how civic tech firms, entrepreneurs and nonprofits — who are are pushing state and local governments to open up more datasets based on national standards — can best use the data they seek.

Efficiency/Reorganization
Defining and achieving efficiency in government
Steve Goodrich, Federal Times
Suggests a number of changes to increase the efficiency of federal agencies.

Innovation
OPM Lab Takes the Lead on Innovation
Katherine Archuleta, Government Executive
Team uses human-centered design to help agencies improve services.

Performance Management
Cobert: OMB goals go beyond Obama’s last term
Ryan McDermott, FierceGovernment
Governmentwide initiatives launched by OMB during the Obama administration are meant to extend well past 2016.

Customer Service
Can the government fix citizen services?
Andy Medici, Federal Times
In an age in which citizens’ expectations of services are rapidly increasing, the federal government must rise to the challenge — and government officials are pushing their agencies to transform how they deliver services.

Leadership
Exploring how outstanding public executives make tough decisions: An interview with Ronald Sanders, Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton
Andy Feldman, Gov Innovator Blog
How do outstanding senior government executives make tough decisions? Recent research suggests that these leaders need to be “ambidextrous,” meaning skilled at gathering input and conducting thorough analysis of complex decisions, while at the same time willing to make tough and courageous decisions.

Open Government
OMB starts DATA Act implementation in high gear
Jason Miller, Federal News Radio
OMB and Treasury released a set of 12 finalized data elements, 15 data elements for final review and 30 others that need to go through the public and agency comment phase.

Performance Management
Obama Management Chief: Senior Execs Must Set Tone for Better Performance
Charles Clark, Government Executive
Cobert stressed the importance of the Senior Executive Service in “setting the tone” for improved performance and leveraging new talent in government.
The Painful Management Lessons From Five Presidencies
Jonathan Breul and Paul Posner, Government Executive
Forget the next big idea, and focus on what’s already been hatched.
Using the Balanced Scorecard in the public sector: An interview with Kenneth Thompson, DePaul University
Andy Feldman, Gov Innovator Podcast
The Balanced Scorecard is a tool “for translating an organization’s strategy into action through the development of performance objectives and measures in order to fulfill its mission.”

Innovation
Why We Need to Get Away From Innovation by Anecdote
Kevin DeSouza, Governing
Feel-good stories are nice, but there’s a role for academia in bringing scientific rigor to the process.

Open Government
Better data, Better decisions, Better government
David Mader and David Lebryk, OMB Blog
The DATA Act requires agencies to use common government-wide data standards when posting that information to USAspending.gov.
How hackathons help with more than code
Steve Kelman, Federal Computer Week
New ways of thinking and competition for the status quo are also valuable by products of hackathons.
Outside techies clean up at Hackathon
Zach Noble, Federal Computer Week
More than 60 developers, designers and data scientists from academia and the private sector participated in GSA’s inaugural Hackathon.

Risk Management
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
John Kamensky, Government Executive
Six reasons agencies aren’t managing risk effectively.

Performance Management
Obama Team Aims to Ensure Agency Performance Goals Outlive This Administration
Charles Clark, Government Executive
The Obama administration is picking up the pace on setting agency performance goals, and has started the process of ensuring that the management priorities survive the transition to a new president.
Council trying to create a performance culture snowball effect
Jason Miller, Federal News Radio
The Performance Improvement Council is taking a Zen-like approach to further the culture of performance across the government,  encouraging agencies to see the benefits of measuring performance and acting on those results.
Why civil servants should have a ‘seat at the table’
Steve Kelman, Federal Computer Week
Kelman applauds the OMB’s move to make career employees “goal leaders” for performance management initiatives, but wishes it had come far earlier in the administration.

Analytics/Evaluation
Delivering on the promise of big data
Sarah Lai Stirland, Federal Computer Week
Agencies have moved beyond the buzzword and are making big data part of their everyday missions.
5 ways to turn big data into better government
Zach Noble, Federal Computer Week
Big data offers simple solutions to the vast majority of customer complaints.

Collaboration
DHS’s Unity of Effort seeds the roots of change
Jason Miller, Federal News Radio
The council is one management approach that Secretary Jeh Johnson has brought to DHS under his initiative to create a more cohesive agency.

Customer Service
White House building a ‘Yelp’ to rate federal services
Andy Medici, Federal Times
According to OMB, the administration will be launching a “federal feedback button” pilot in the next few months to give Americans a way to provide instant feedback on their experiences with federal services.

Efficiency/Reorganization
House Members Pursue Holy Grail of Federal Program Efficiency
Charles Clark, Government Executive
Bipartisan bill would create project manager career path, standards.
Voters Want Aggressive Government Reform, Not Tinkering Around the Edges
Charles Clark, Government Executive
Eroding confidence in government has shrunk the ranks of reinventing government “tinkerers,” providing an opening for a more-aggressive reform platform for the 2016 election.

Innovation
Decision-Making Software Shapes Government Budgets Transparently
Colin Wood, Government Technology
Government agencies are supporting their IT and capital investment planning with a tool called Decision Lens.

Open Government
The Dark Side of Government in the Sunshine
Philip Joyce, Governing
While transparency may promote government accountability and reduce corruption, rules to improve openness in government also can have negative consequences.

Performance Management
Government Needs Better Management, Obviously
Howard Risher, Government Executive
Accountability in the absence of consequences is little more than a word.
Implementing a turnaround strategy at DOL: An interview with Seth Harris, former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor
Andy Feldman, Gov Innovative Podcast
The U.S. Department of Labor is a useful case study of a large public-sector organization that successfully strengthened a culture of results, data, learning and evidence.

Analytics/Evaluation
Data Wonks vs. Performance Leaders
Robert Behn, Government Executive
Finding key insights in a jumble of data is not the same as the skills needed get consistent, dedicated work from a team.
State to set up analytics office
Sean Lyngaas, Federal Computer Week
The State Department plans to set up an analytics office to harness big data, an area in which the department says it needs to do better.
New Johns Hopkins center to help cities tap power of data
Stephen Babcock, Technical.ly Baltimore
The Center for Government Excellence is part of a $42 million initiative created by Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Innovation
Google Government Innovation Lab Open for Business
Jason Shueh, Government Technology
Google officially opens its innovation lab to help government solve challenges.