Weekly Roundup: April 20-April 24, 2020

Michael J. Keegan

Pentagon plans to test all troops for COVID-19. Gen. John Hyten, vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said testing the entire force, including National Guard and Reserves, would take until summertime.

Navy CIO: Future networks hinge on flexible acquisitions now. Navy CIO Aaron Weis wants to rebuild the service's network architecture to look and function more like industry, but acquisition culture and structure slow progress.

Using tech to combat the coronavirus. Leveraging digital apps in the effort to do pandemic contact tracing.

Why "holding" is an often-overlooked leadership skill. Leaders who "hold" their teams coalesce them around a shared vision by providing sound policies and tools that help people feel safe and valued, writes INSEAD associate professor Gianpiero Petriglieri. "Your impulse may be to focus on the future but that will be little more than escapism if you cannot witness and understand people's immediate experience and concerns," he writes. Harvard Business Review online  

We don't know what the world will be like after this ends. Predicting the future is immensely difficult, and this remains true when it comes to outlining how business and society will be changed by the coronavirus pandemic, writes Rob Walker. "Every prediction is just a point on a spectrum of possibilities to consider, and that will be influenced by developments no one has thought of yet," he writes. Medium (tiered subscription model)/Marker

Inspire yourself if you want to spark others. Inspiration starts with what you're doing -- your goals, words and attitude create the foundation to lead your team, writes Steve Keating. "Remember, your people will do what you do far faster than they will do what you say," he writes. LeadToday

Post-pandemic change needs to have a "why?" behind it. The coronavirus pandemic should force organizations to rethink IT systems, business models and people's roles, but what matters most is a thoughtful understanding of "WHY and HOW to change," writes Jeffrey Phillips. "The goal isn't to survive until a new normal emerges -- it is to thrive in any circumstance," he writes. Innovate on Purpose 

John Kamensky

GAO to the Rescue?  Politico reports: “Lawmakers handed President Donald Trump $2 trillion in coronavirus relief — and then left town without activating any of the powerful new oversight tools meant to hold his administration accountable. . . . But with little fanfare, Congress’ independent, in-house watchdog is preparing a blizzard of audits that will become the first wide-ranging check on Trump’s handling of the sprawling national rescue effort.”

Extreme Impact. Government Executive reports: “A majority of federal employees say the novel coronavirus outbreak has had a “major” or “extreme” impact on their agencies’ operations, according to a new survey, though they generally give positive marks to the actions their offices have taken to prevent its spread.

Return to Work. In a piece for Government Executive, Jacquelyn Phillips writes: “On Monday, the Office of Management and Budget released guidance for heads of executive departments and agencies on the return to steady state operations and the reopening of federal facilities. . . . Things won’t be the same. Here are 10 tips for putting empathy into action and keeping people safe.”

Rebuild the ROC. In an op-ed for The Hill, Danny Werfel writes: The 2009 Recovery Act’s ”oversight board built the Recovery Operations Center (ROC), which proved to be a paradigm shift in how big data and forensic analytics are used to track government program spending. Now that our nation is facing another unprecedented crisis, we need another shift in how government leverages digital, AI, and analytics to monitor spending.”

Tough Transition? Government Executive reports: “The nonprofit Partnership for Public Service’s Center for Presidential Transition launched its 2020 transition efforts last November . . . . Since the novel coronavirus outbreak has forced most federal employees to telework and modified operations for those who must come into their offices, the upcoming transition is likely to be different, Partnership officials said.

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Next Week on A Special Edition of The Business of Government Hour: A Conversation with Authors Series with Patrick Lester. What does it take to scale evidence-based programs successfully? What combination of federal, state, and local public policy changes are needed to scale evidence-based programs? What management strategies and resources are needed to scale these programs effectively? Join host Michael Keegan as he explores these questions and more with Patrick Lester author of the IBM Center report, Scaling Evidence-Based Programs in Child Welfare.

Broadcast Schedule: The show airs Monday at 11 a.m., and Friday at 1 p.m. on Federal News Network 1500AM WFED

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