ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

Performance Management
Fed Confession: I Have No Idea How to Measure Performance
Jackson Nickerson, Government Executive
Why finding the right performance metrics can be so tricky.

Analytics/Evaluation
The Emerging Role and Merits for Chief Data Officers
Gadi Ben-Yehuda, Business of Government
What should a Chief Data Officer (CDO) do? And how should the success of a CDO be measured?

Analytics for Smarter Communities
Wayne Hanson, Government Technology
For local governments drowning in data, analytics offers a way to make sense of it all.

Efficiency/Reorganization
Back to the future with BPM
John Moore, Federal Computer Week
Business process management, a concept with roots that plunge more than 20 years into the past, is finding new roles in helping agencies through tough budget times.
Why a transformation commission is good for feds
Steve Goodrich, Federal Computer Week
Legislation before Congress could provide vital support for agencies that are struggling to save money while serving the public.
Ex-Air Force Chief to Lead Effort to Slash Defense Headquarters Operations
Tom Shoop, Government Executive
Former Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley will lead a review of the organizational structure of the Office of the Secretary of Defense aimed at slashing its budget and cutting the number of people who report directly to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

Innovation

Service To America Medal Finalists Exemplify Management Excellence
Lara Shane, Government Executive
On Oct. 3, the Partnership for Public Service will present the Service to America Medal for Management Excellence to one of four finalists.
Harnessing Silicon Valley funding approaches to drive breakthrough solutions in the public sector: An interview with Jeffrey Brown, Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) Program at USAID
Andy Feldman, GovInnovator Blog
The Development Innovation Ventures Program (DIV) at USAID launched in 2010 with a mission to find, test, and scale ideas that could radically improve global prosperity.

Leadership
Tri-Sector Leadership Skills
John Kamensky, Business of Government
Why are some public sector leaders — like John Koskinen, Ed DeSeve, and Michael Bloomberg – so successful at what they do?
How to build the leadership bench
Emily Jarvis, GovLoop
Interview on a new report on SES leadership, which found that agencies need to develop a strategic and comprehensive approach to leadership development.

Performance Management
Performance Review 101 – How to get real results
Emily Jarvis, GovLoop
Interview with Tom Fox, Vice President for Leadership and Innovation at the Partnership for Public Service, on best practices for employee performance reviews.

Innovation
The silent killer of innovation
Frank Konkel, Federal Computer Week
The government has access to all manner of exciting and useful technologies, but is not always able to take full advantage of them.

Open Government
Four Approaches to Crowdsourcing
John Kamensky, Business of Government
Is this a Golden Age for citizen involvement in government? As dismayed as some may be with the political process, there are growing opportunities for meaningful engagement in many areas, thanks to growing social media tools and a willingness to participate by many ordinary people.
Leveraging the power of the crowd
Emily Jarvis, GovLoop
Opening up a problem to a large community can yield brand new perspectives.
Administration releases more guidance to open up agency data
Andy Medici, Federal Times
The administration has released additional guidance to push agencies to make government data more transparent.

Analytics/Evaluation
6 Ways Obama’s New Agenda Aims to Make Government Smarter
Dan Chenok, Government Executive
Agenda lays out a ‘smarter, quicker, and more responsive government.’

States’ Use of Cost-Benefit Analysis
Pew Results First Project
A new study measures states’ use of cost-benefit analysis. According to the report, 10 states are leading the way in using cost-benefit analysis to generate answers about programs’ return on investment and to drive policy decisions.

OMB’s evidence memo deserves praise
Steve Kelman, Federal Computer Week
Did you even know there was an evidence agenda? Steve Kelman argues that its obscurity doesn’t match its importance.

Collaboration
Government Should Operate More as a Single Enterprise, Report Says
Charles Clark, Government Executive
Rather than function like a “holding company” for a hundred entities, the federal government should reform its management structure to operate routinely as a single enterprise, according to a report from the Partnership for Public Service.

Making crisis-level collaboration the new normal
Adam Mazmanian, Federal Computer Week
The Partnership for Public Service has some ideas to enable agencies to work together all the time as well as they do when under pressure.

9 Strategies for Increasing Collaboration and Reducing Waste in Government
Lara Shane, Partnership for Public Service, Government Executive
A new report outlines nine strategies to support an enterprise approach to government, articulate what government needs to accomplish collaboratively, and delineate roles and responsibilities of each agency to achieve the common mission or goal.

Innovation
New York City’s Social Impact Bond, the first in the U.S.: An interview with Linda Gibbs, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, New York City
Andy Feldman, GovInnovator Blog
In 2012, New York City launched the first Social Impact Bond (SIB) in the United States. Under the SIB model, investors provide up-front capital for preventive interventions and government only pays when measurable results are achieved.

Open Government
Personalized e-gov portal moves closer to launch
Adam Mazmanian, Federal Computer Week
Administration wants to collect personal information to make government portal more like e-commerce.

Performance Management
Moving Forward on the New Management Agenda
Dan Chenok, Business of Government
OMB is leading efforts across agencies to develop a Management Agenda that follows direction from the President. Key themes from this agenda reinforce some existing management activities and introduce new ones, and tie to the use of evidence, data and research to make better management and budget decisions.

Analytics/Evaluation
Budget Officials to Agencies, Again: Show Us Your Programs Work
Charles Clark, Government Executive
OMB memo seeks ‘evidence and innovation’ in fiscal 2015 budget requests.
OMB: Agencies should let evidence guide budget requests
Sean Reilly, Federal Times
Agencies should seek funding only for programs that work in their 2015 budgets and be able to back up their requests with evidence.
What You Can Learn From the Rise of “Moneyball Government”
John Kamensky, Government Executive
What state, local, and international governments know about making smart decisions.

Efficiency/Reorganization
Is the Most Efficient Office in the World Run by the United States Government?
Ray Fisman and Tim Sullivan, Slate
The story of the Hudson Street Passport Services Office.
DoE restructures management offices to cut waste, improve security
Melissa Dawkins, Federal News Radio
The Department of Energy is reshuffling its management deck in order to cut costs and improve security.

Leadership
Mark Warner: Pushing for performance
Richard Cohen, Federal Computer Week
In a sharply divided Congress, the Senate’s management guru gains ground in his nonpartisan approach to the government’s fiscal and performance challenges.
Key vacancies challenge Obama management plans
Adam Mazmanian, Federal Computer Week
The Obama administration is moving ahead with a plan to overhaul government management policies, but could be hampered by a depleted roster of senior leaders at OMB.

Open Government
New Report Examines the State of Rulemaking 2.0
Dan Chenok, Business of Government
Government organizations can increase both the quantity and quality of public participation from missing stakeholders, unaffiliated experts, and the general public.

Analytics/Evaluation
How Non-Profits and Foundations Support Evidence-Based Government
John Kamensky, Business of Government
Non-profits, foundations, and universities are enthused by government’s growing interest in the use of evidence and evaluation. They are chiming in with either support for government initiatives or undertaking their own.
The launch of J-PAL North America: An interview with Lawrence Katz, Harvard University
Andy Feldman, GovInnovator Blog
The Jamal Poverty Action Lab, or J-PAL, was established in 2003 at MIT and is today a global network of researchers who use randomized evaluations to answer important questions within anti-poverty policy.

Efficiency/Reorganization
Multiprong support comes for strategic sourcing
Mark Rockwell, Federal Computer Week
Legislation and a new GSA contract could bolster practices intended to amplify federal buying power.

Leadership
VA, OPM implement promising practices for next generation of SESers
Jason Miller, Federal News Radio
A new report by the Partnership for Public Service and McKinsey and Company found inconsistencies among agencies in how they recruit and develop their SESers. That lack of standardized leadership development is causing some to question whether senior executives will be prepared to replace long-time managers.
Report: New Urgency for Building Pipeline of Future Leaders
Charles Clark, GovExec
The expected retirement of two-thirds of the Senior Executive Service in the next five years makes urgent the task of building a federal leadership pipeline.