Weekly Roundup January 30-February 3, 2023

Pentagon launches management reform institute to address challenges. The U.S. Defense Department launched the Defense Management Institute, an independent research entity (and part of the nonprofit Institute for Defense Analyses), aimed at advancing the Pentagon’s management, organization, performance improvement and enterprise business operations. It will have a far-reaching impact as it pools experts and past research for officials and lawmakers to solve problems or retool the department.

Tougher cybersecurity rules may be more than a year away—but don’t wait to get ready. It could be well into 2024 or even early 2025 before the Defense Department finally requires contractors to obtain third-party approval of their cybersecurity setup. But there’s no time to relax, one expert says. “Even if the actual rollout is so much slower, perhaps even a year later than you might have expected, there is still an enormous market of companies who are going to [comply], who must comply today and who will need assessment services.” 

Admiral Chase Details JFHQ-DODIN 2023 Goals. U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Bill Chase, deputy commander of Joint Force Headquarters-Department of Defense Information Network (JFHQ-DODIN) this week outlined a list of the command’s cybersecurity goals for 2023. JFHQ-DODIN is charged with carrying out the cybersecurity mission to protect the DODIN, which is a federated environment that encompasses the infrastructure of more than 15,000 unclassified, classified networked and cloud environments globally. 

To protect satellites, secure your networks, chief of space ops says. Attacks on ground networks can be “backdoor” assaults on the space-based capabilities that are key to modern warfare, says Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman. Saltzman, who took the reins of the fledgling Space Force in November, recently released what he calls the service’s three lines of effort: “fielding combat-ready forces,” “amplifying the guardian spirit,” and “partnering to win.” 

GAO Prods CISA, DoD, OMB on Big-Picture Cyber Work. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) offered some big-picture marching orders in a new report this week for three federal agencies with major cybersecurity portfolios to improve how the agencies are undertaking their security missions. GAO makes hundreds of security-related recommendations to agencies – but the latest report singles out some major themes that it wants to see addressed. GAO made those recommendations in its second report in a four-part series detailing the federal government’s high-risk cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

PRAC Data Scientists Uncover $5.4 Billion in Potential Loan Fraud. Data scientists working for the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) data scientists said they have identified more than $5.4 billion in potentially fraudulent loans issued under Federal government relief programs that were obtained by crooks using 69,323 stolen or fraudulent Social Security Numbers (SSNs).

New Data Visualizations Bring Transparency to the President's Management Agenda. The Office of Management and Budget released new data pages for each of the priority areas of the President’s Management Agenda (PMA) — Workforce, Customer Experience, and Managing the Business of Government. These pages reflect two core PMA values: accountability and results. To this end, these pages feature data visualizations for some of the key metrics the administration is monitoring within each priority area. 

Interior Dept. tops government satisfaction survey as Treasury lags. The U.S. Department of the Interior had the highest customer satisfaction rating among federal agencies in a report surveying public perceptions of government. Based on interviews with more than 2,000 random members of the public, the American Customer Satisfaction Index ranked agencies based on four drivers of citizen satisfaction: efficiency, clear information, professionalism and website quality.

Measuring for management. Steve Kelman is impressed with how today's senior federal civilian and military managers approach performance data. At the end of the class, I asked the students what advice they would give to an organization beginning to use performance measures for the first time. I got three answers: set your metrics when the process is beginning, pay attention to choosing the right metrics, and tie the metrics to the organization's core values.

House lawmakers want VA's $20 billion-plus electronic health record program to improve or else. Senior Republicans on the House Veterans Affairs Committee are backing legislation to end the troubled program to replace the Department of Veterans Affairs' homegrown electronic health record system with commercial software from Oracle-Cerner -- unless the program can hit performance targets and satisfy top hospital officials. 

If your leadership is slipping try these 7 options. If you feel something has damaged your credibility as a leader, do a self-inventory to identify potential problem areas, take a walk to clear your head, and look for mentors or coaches who can help you identify areas where you may need to grow or change, writes executive coach Anne Sugar. "You must accept that there are times you will need to make changes, whether you like it or not," Sugar writes. Harvard Business Review (tiered subscription model)

Do you have any of these 7 bad leadership traits? It's easy to spot bad leaders who believe they're good but are rarely there for their people, have more style than substance and damage companies with their incompetence, writes Steve Andriole, a professor at the Villanova School of Business at Villanova University. By contrast, good leaders are those who show up, listen, anticipate problems and lead in the face of challenges, Andriole writes. Forbes (tiered subscription model)

Why leaders should be predictable in unpredictable times. With constant change being the only sure thing these days, leaders need to be able to act quickly -- while maintaining their integrity. "In unpredictable times with people feeling bewildered at best and often fearful, leaders need to communicate, connect and engage with people, meeting them where they are," Kourdi writes. Build trust with your employees by being fair, dependable, supportive and unselfish, Kourdi recommends. Practice self-awareness to uncover and strengthen your own weaknesses to become a trustworthy leader. CEO Today