The Next President"s Top 10 Challenges
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Government By Contractors?
Private contractors are replacing federal employees at an all-time record pace. Are contract workers as accountable as regular, career employees? Do we want our government to be outsourced to the lowest bidder? Experienced federal workers are leaving faster then they are being replaced, and those that remain are constantly reminded that they "could be replaced by contractors." A good balance between contractors and regular government workers could save taxpayers billions, but the balance is delicate and the new president needs to find it.
Results Really Do Matter
When you screw up at work, are you not held accountable for your mistakes?
Should the federal government be held any less accountable for its mistakes? This seems so simple and basic, but if there is government accountability, it often goes unseen by the people. "Because the public expects demonstrable results from the federal government, government leaders need to increase strategic planning, address management challenges, use integrated approaches, and enhance their agencies' results-orientation," finds the IBM Center. Amen, finds the people.
"Green" Leadership
While states, cities and individual citizens have been working to adopt practices to address global warming by reducing gr eenhouse gas emissions, the federal government has lagged behind. At the federal level, the need to balance environmental concerns with economic reality presents a difficult problem. Moreover, both the federal government and the people must realize that climate change is a global problem. "Many environmental issues, like those resulting from greenhouse gases, require a global approach since little is accomplished if reductions in one country are cancelled out by increases in another country."
Security and Privacy in a Flat World
Just as modern technology helps the people watch the government, it also helps the government watch the people. For the government, the concern is security, for the people, it is privacy. "Technology interconnects almost everyone on earth," says the IBM Center. "We need to capture the advantages while managing the risks." Clearly a great challenge for many new presidents to come will be the development of technology policies and practices that will balance both the government's and the people's "need to know."
Expect Surprises
The next Hurricane Katrina will happen. Whether the nation's next catastrophic disaster is a result of nature or an act of terrorism, the federal government's response must not come up lacking. "In the coming years, public leaders can count on more than their share of catastrophic and non-routine management challenges - for example another breakdown in the food safety system, a pandemic, a West Coast earthquake, or bio-terrorism in a major urban area," warns the IBM Center. "Responding to such challenges with traditional management approaches will only produce the same results seen in Hurricane Katrina."
Why nothing about the Iraq war? Remember, an incoming president's management agenda is rarely if ever about ending or starting wars, or undertaking any other major foreign policy initiative. Rather, the management agenda is about making the U.S. government itself a better-working organization, which is frankly, challenging enough.
Government By Contractors?
Private contractors are replacing federal employees at an all-time record pace. Are contract workers as accountable as regular, career employees? Do we want our government to be outsourced to the lowest bidder? Experienced federal workers are leaving faster then they are being replaced, and those that remain are constantly reminded that they "could be replaced by contractors." A good balance between contractors and regular government workers could save taxpayers billions, but the balance is delicate and the new president needs to find it.
Results Really Do Matter
When you screw up at work, are you not held accountable for your mistakes?
Should the federal government be held any less accountable for its mistakes? This seems so simple and basic, but if there is government accountability, it often goes unseen by the people. "Because the public expects demonstrable results from the federal government, government leaders need to increase strategic planning, address management challenges, use integrated approaches, and enhance their agencies' results-orientation," finds the IBM Center. Amen, finds the people.
"Green" Leadership
While states, cities and individual citizens have been working to adopt practices to address global warming by reducing gr eenhouse gas emissions, the federal government has lagged behind. At the federal level, the need to balance environmental concerns with economic reality presents a difficult problem. Moreover, both the federal government and the people must realize that climate change is a global problem. "Many environmental issues, like those resulting from greenhouse gases, require a global approach since little is accomplished if reductions in one country are cancelled out by increases in another country."
Security and Privacy in a Flat World
Just as modern technology helps the people watch the government, it also helps the government watch the people. For the government, the concern is security, for the people, it is privacy. "Technology interconnects almost everyone on earth," says the IBM Center. "We need to capture the advantages while managing the risks." Clearly a great challenge for many new presidents to come will be the development of technology policies and practices that will balance both the government's and the people's "need to know."
Expect Surprises
The next Hurricane Katrina will happen. Whether the nation's next catastrophic disaster is a result of nature or an act of terrorism, the federal government's response must not come up lacking. "In the coming years, public leaders can count on more than their share of catastrophic and non-routine management challenges - for example another breakdown in the food safety system, a pandemic, a West Coast earthquake, or bio-terrorism in a major urban area," warns the IBM Center. "Responding to such challenges with traditional management approaches will only produce the same results seen in Hurricane Katrina."
Why nothing about the Iraq war? Remember, an incoming president's management agenda is rarely if ever about ending or starting wars, or undertaking any other major foreign policy initiative. Rather, the management agenda is about making the U.S. government itself a better-working organization, which is frankly, challenging enough.
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