The rise of Big Data technologies and data-driven approaches of business functions has created a demand for data architects and scientists that is growing by as much as 12% annually. These highly technical resources and capabilities address part of the challenge, but organizations still struggle with how to effectively use the data they have to make timely and informed decisions to improve business and mission outcomes.
Everyone is familiar with the “bandwagon effect”, where fans and followers join and root for the winning team, popular group, or must-have item. Does this psychological phenomenon apply to everything? A common misconception is that people assume correlation equals causation.
Google Flu Trends (GFT) is a poster child for big data gone wrong. Under this program, Google tracked flu-related searches, as the company expected those with the flu to search how to treat it. However, in 2013, Google miscalculated the outbreak of flu season.
Design Thinking and the customer experience go hand-in-hand. While customer engagement with a Government agency can be difficult, an agency can navigate this tenuous process using a Customer Journey Map – a key tool in our Design Thinking approach. This can also inspire innovative ideas.
Meetings are an essential part of day-to-day work and collaboration in every organization. There are an estimated 37 million meetings every day in the United States, yet up to 67 percent are considered failures. Sources estimate the cost of unproductive meetings in the billions and say meetings may take up 15% of an organization’s collective time.
In 2004, the 9/11 Commission published a report that identified communication and intelligence failures leading up to the September 11th attacks. The Commission determined there was a significant disconnect between intelligence agencies and their ability to work together in counterterrorism efforts and empathize across agencies and missions.
Effective communication can save lives and reduce economic damage during the response and recovery phases of a disaster. Despite widely available information on creating effective risk communication and warning messages to elicit desired public outcomes during and following disasters, communication attempts fail too often.
Back in the public spotlight for the first time since the Cold War thanks to the new ABC drama Designated Survivor, Continuity of Government (COG) is a lesser-known mission in the portfolio of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its Federal Emergency Management Agency. As a concept, its origins lie in the dawn of the atomic era, when the new possibility of simultaneous nationwide devastation created the need for contingency plans for the worst cases imaginable.
Even in this “there’s an app for that” age, the business of Government is executed by its people. Determining how to attract, hire, train, manage, develop, and retain an organization’s workforce are among the most challenging tasks for a Federal executive team.
The essence of an effective strategy is focusing attention, resources, and energy on the precise areas needed to achieve an organization’s goals. Unfortunately, and in stark contrast, many efforts to communicate strategies are diffused and often uncoordinated, trying to blanket all media channels with content in hopes that audiences will absorb something from somewhere. It is better to focus communications as the strategy is focused, using the most effective, selected channels and methods to achieve distinct desired results.
Strategy helps organizations define their desired end-state and prioritize what capabilities they need to get there. If you develop a strategy thoughtfully and implement it well, it can be a game changer for an organization.
Federal agencies are more frequently developing strategic plans to achieve mission success, and senior leaders are paying close attention to the implementation of these plans to make them a success. Effective implementation needs engagement from employees at all levels.
The role of data analytics is quickly expanding in the public sector. How the Government will get their arms around the vast amounts of data, however, continues to be a challenge. While data-driven decision making is the future, the Government needs reliable ways to access the data and turn it into information.
