Weekly Round-up: April 27, 2011

Gadi Ben-Yehuda

Is on vacation this week.  Still, I couldn't help but notice a much-tweeted article on the State Department's new internal social networking site.

John Kamensky

GAO’s Latest Improper Payments Status Report. The total dollars in improper payments is going up, however the Administration’s tough steps are making progress – the percent share of improper payments is going down. But GAO offers an interesting cautionary note: “We view these actions as positive steps; however, it is too soon to determine whether these activities will achieve their goal of reducing improper payments while continuing to ensure that federal programs serve and provide access to intended beneficiaries.”

GAO’s Assessment of Duplication in Teacher Quality Programs. GAO’s massive report last month on duplicative and overlapping programs flagged 82 different programs in 10 agencies spending a total of $4 billion to improve teacher quality. This reportprovides the details. It’s an instructive read.

Administrative Conference Committee Recommends Targeted Integrity Standards for Government Contractors. Government Executive’s Joseph Marks reports that a committee of the Administrative Conference of the U.S. offers recommendations to impose additional ethics requirements to government services contractors to reduce risks to the government that these contractors would not have personal conflicts of interest or misuse non-public information that they have access to when working for the government. The full Conference will vote on it in June.

Ingraining Performance in Your Organization. Babak Armajani’s piece “The Perils of Performance Measurement” is an important read. Based on his experience as an innovative leader, he notes “measuring performance without simultaneously building systems and a culture to use performance data for learning is at best futile and at worst dangerous.” His six tips for success are real!

Dan Chenok

Is on vacation this week.

The Business of Government Radio Show: Edward Dolan

The Business of Government Hour features a conversation about management with a government executive who is changing the way government does business. The executives discuss their careers and the management challenges facing their organizations. Past government executives include Administrators, Chief Financial Officers, Chief Information Officers, Chief Operating Officers, Commissioners, Controllers, Directors, and Undersecretaries.

Edward Dolan is the UFMS Project Executive for the U.S. Marshals Service.

Each week, The Business of Government Hour interviews government executive who are changing the way government does business. The show airs four times a week on two radio stations in the DC Metro Area. If you can't wait, though, we also put it online. You can also search our audio archives for your favorite interview.