ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

Performance Management
Goal Playbook
Performance Improvement Council
The Performance Improvement Council has released a new on-line “playbook” to help agency managers develop goals and plans to achieve them.
‘Reinventing government,’ 25 years later
Steve Kelman, Federal Computer Week
In 1993, the government began shifting its focus to performance, but the question remains: Has the procurement system improved?
Overcoming the Strategy Execution Gap
Howard Risher, Government Executive
Leaders should be open to employees’ ideas for improving performance.

Analytics/Evaluation
Why data chiefs need to be everywhere
Mark Rockwell, Federal Computer Week
Agency chief data officers belong where they are needed, and that’s not necessarily in the IT shop.
How’s My Program Doing? The Question That Doesn’t Always Have a Good Answer
Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene, Governing
Program evaluation offices have yet to become common throughout government — and where they do exist, many lawmakers don’t know about them.
Why Every Mayor Should Consider Launching a Policy Lab
Andy Feldman and Stephen Goldsmith, Governing
As D.C. is demonstrating, it’s a way to use evidence and rigorous research to produce better outcomes.

Innovation
Re-Imagining Government Modernization
Tim Stitely, Business of Government
Using the “3 P + S” approach can move government modernization forward.
Louisville, Ky., Works to Foster Institutional Innovation
Zack Quaintance, Government Technology
To make innovation thinking more accessible and commonplace across departments, the city has deployed analog and internal hackathons along with a badges system inspired by the Girl Scouts.

Leadership
What does the future of the SES look like?
Chase Gunter, Federal Computer Week
Members of the Senior Executive Service wonder what needs to be done to create a pipeline of future leaders.

Analytics/Evaluation
The Potential Payoff for Applying Metrics and Analytics to Government Is Significant
Marc Berson and Howard Risher, Government Executive
Managers need more training, and all employees need to be involved in performance initiatives.
DATA Act: so far, so meh
Tom Temin, Federal News Radio
The DATA Act was supposed to bring transparency by having agencies adopt uniform standards for tagging spending data. But as implemented, it’s not working out that way.

Collaboration
Drivers Transforming Government: Effectiveness
Haynes Cooney, Business of Government
Applying enterprise approaches to achieve better outcomes, operational efficiency, and leaner government.

Customer Service
How to Improve Government Customer Experience
Kathy Conrad and Eric Keller, Government Executive
More agencies need to move beyond the basics.

Innovation
Federal Managers Should Learn From Denver’s ‘Peak Performance’ Program
Marc Berson and Howard Risher, Government Executive
It doesn’t require legislation or special funding, and it could produce gains in every agency.
How Agility Is Driving Government Transformation
John Kamensky, Government Executive
Government is notoriously bad at adapting to rapid advances in technology and the shifting expectations of citizens.

Reorganization
How does civil service efficiency square with agency reorgs?
Chase Gunter, Federal Computer Week
While shared services and other tech can help streamline government, federal workforce experts are skeptical about whether budget cuts can spur productivity.

Risk Management
Drivers Transforming Government: Risk
Michael Keegan, Business of Government
Mitigating risk, managing cybersecurity, and building resiliency to meet the mission of government.

Performance Management
How to Design Effective Team Targets in Government
Prajapati Trivedi, Business of Government
Everyone knows the importance of teamwork in government, yet we have a system that encourages solo performance. Team targets can successfully align individual performance with group performance.

Analytics/Evaluation

House Passes Bipartisan Evidence-Based Policymaking Bill
Charles Clark, Government Executive
The House voted unanimously to pass legislation requiring agencies to more systematically assemble data for their decision makers before evaluating programs.
DATA Act oversight highlights growing pains
Chase Gunter, Federal Computer Week
Issues ranged from reporting deficiencies and late reporting to noncompliance to billions of dollars in spending gaps.
A Real Opportunity for Evidence-Based Policymaking
Mary Ann Bates, Governing
A bipartisan proposal in Congress would go a long way toward helping to build smarter government at every level.
Drivers Transforming Government: Insight
John Kamensky, Business of Government
Policy makers, agency leaders, and frontline staff regularly find themselves having to make sense out of data and information, drawing out insights to inform decisions.
It’s Time to Improve Government’s Use of Metrics and Analytics
Marc Berson and Howard Risher, Government Executive
The value of metrics and more recently analytics has been proven repeatedly. When used effectively in managing performance, the gains can be impressive.
What Evidence-Based Policymaking Doesn’t Do
Linda Springer, Government Executive
The obsession with improving existing programs misses the need to redesign them for the future.
Summit on Data-Smart Government Day One Focuses on Tangible Successes
Zack Quaintance, Government Technology
Local governments are leveraging data to transform city services in a wide range of areas, including public safety, mobility, and inspections.
Summit on Data-Smart Government Day Two Shows How Fast the Discipline Has Grown
Zack Quaintance, Government Technology
Local governments have made strides toward better serving communities through predictive analytics, data visualizations, and other work.

Collaboration
The Need for Cross-Sector Collaboration
Jeanine Becker and David B. Smith, Stanford Social Innovation Review
Addressing today’s most pressing challenges requires developing the capacity to lead collaboratively and to effectively work across sectors.

Innovation
Drivers Transforming Government: Agility
John Kamensky, Business of Government
Adopting new ways for government to operate, using agile principles and putting user experiences and program results at the forefront.

Analytics/Evaluation
Evidence-Based Policy Principles Take Legislative Form
Charles Clark, Government Executive
House Speaker Ryan and Sen. Murray would require all agencies to submit a plan for building evidence on program effectiveness.
With fast-moving evidence-based policy bill, agencies may add new C-suite member
Nicole Ogrysko, Federal News Radio
Congress may move soon on legislation that would help agencies use existing metrics to make better data-driven decisions about their organization’s programs.
Ryan, Murray team up on evidence-based policy bill
Chase Gunter, Federal Computer Week
Following up on the findings of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, Ryan and Murray introduced legislation to help improve how the federal government gathers and uses data.
Using Data: From Hammer to Flashlight
John Kamensky, Business of Government
The recommendations by the recent Evidence-Based Policymaking Commission are a significant step towards creating a better supply of data for researchers and policymakers. But the next step is huge – getting the resulting data used.
One City’s Data-Driven Transformation
William Eggers, Governing
In its war on blighted properties, New Orleans is demonstrating its leadership in the use of data analytics.

Innovation
HHS’ opioid code-a-thon: Challenges go mainstream and mission-critical
Steve Kelman, Federal Computer Week
The upcoming HHS contest could mark a new maturity for challenges as a procurement tool.
Innovating Philanthropy
Kathleen Kelly Janus, Stanford Social Innovation Review
A new generation is making a difference using powerful technology, inventing new financial models to better leverage capital, and rigorously focusing on getting proven results.

Management
Can Other States Tap Tennessee’s Secret Sauce for Government Efficiency?
John Buntin, Governing
Once seen as a laggard in public administration, the state is now a leader.

Analytics/Evaluation
Interview with Nick Hart: New Evidence-Based Policymaking Initiative
Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management
Nick Hart is the director of The Bipartisan Policy Center’s new Evidence-Based Policymaking Initiative.
Pay for Success and the Savings Trap
Jake Segal, Governing
Making the conversation about government effectiveness and positive outcomes.

Innovation
Is Your Agency Ready to Solve Its Problems?
Mohana Ravindranath, Nextgov
A Stanford University team has come up with an algorithm assessing whether agencies are ready for solutions to the challenges they face.
White House sketches plans to staff its modernization efforts
Derek Johnson, Federal Computer Week
The White House’s Office of American Innovation is looking to set the stage for IT modernization efforts under the Trump administration by establishing a quartet of research centers, each dedicated to a core aspect of modern technology.

Management
A Blueprint for Improving Government’s HR Function
Howard Risher, Government Executive
The Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework offers federal personnel leaders a guide for transforming agency operations, as well as the HR function itself.
Hardly any federal employees are fired for poor performance. That could be a good sign, report says.
Eric Yoder, Washington Post
The low rate at which federal employees are fired for poor performance doesn’t prove the government accepts it but instead “could actually be a positive sign,” the agency that decides appeals of discipline against federal employees has said.

Open Government
HHS issues code-a-thon challenge to combat opioid crisis
Jessie Bur, Federal Times
The Department of Health and Homeland Security announced that it will be holding a code-a-thon to find data-driven solutions to the opioid health epidemic.