Note: This post originally appeared on my Optimize Business Results blog on August 31, 2011. During the first few years of the economic downturn, police and fire departments across the country often were protected to the extent possible from budget cuts, layoffs, and furloughs. After all, isn’t public safety a core function of local governments? [Continue Reading…]
Why Insisting that Employees “Do More with Less” is a Mistake, and How You Can Stop Making It
November 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Note: This post originally appeared on my Optimize Business Results blog on July 4, 2011. One of the biggest and most preventable mistakes I see employers making in response to layoffs, furloughs, and budget cuts is what I call the fallacy of “doing more with less.” The admonition to “do more with less” has become [Continue Reading…]
Budget Cuts: Why Fire Departments and Police Departments Need to Change the Question
November 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Note: This post originally appeared on my Optimize Business Results blog on May 29, 2011. As city, county, and state budgets are being discussed and finalized around the country, one thing is clear: those who allocate resources are asking the wrong questions. As a result, recipients of government services are being short-changed because resources are [Continue Reading…]
Reality Check: How to Stop Trying to Square a Circle
November 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Note: This post originally appeared on my Optimize Business Results blog on May 27, 2011. The world has changed in major ways in the last few years, with important implications for organizations. Despite the resulting upheaval in virtually all major areas of life and business, many people continue to cling to the notion that things [Continue Reading…]
8 Obstacles to Public Sector Success
November 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Note: This post originally appeared on my Optimize Business Results blog on May 18, 2011. In my experience, public sector agencies and government entities (i.e., cities, counties, states) face eight common obstacles to their success. See how many of these issues you have experienced, either as a provider or a user of public services. 1. [Continue Reading…]
Assumptions Have Expiration Dates
November 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Note: This post originally appeared on my Optimize Business Results blog on May 16, 2011. Last month I was a judge for the International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition, which required graduate and undergraduate students to compete against each other in starting and running a business using a sophisticated computer program. One of the most important [Continue Reading…]
How Public Safety Professionals are Shooting Themselves in the Foot
November 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Note: This post originally appeared on my Optimize Business Results blog on May 1, 2011. When the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported recently that Long Beach’s Chief of Police had vowed that the police would “get the job done” regardless of what they were tasked with doing in the face of drastically reduced resources, I had [Continue Reading…]
The Predictable Decline of the Public Sector
November 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Note: This post originally appeared on my Optimize Business Results blog on April 30, 2011. Organizations go through predictable stages or life cycles: start-up, growth, maturity, decline, and extinction. They can move backwards through these stages as well as forward (e.g., replacing a “mature” product or service with a more innovative one), and not all [Continue Reading…]
Consequences of the “It’s Just My Job” Syndrome
November 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Note: This post originally appeared on my Optimize Business Results blog on February 28, 2011. Editorial changes were made here. Are you one of those people who, when others thank you or pay you a compliment about your performance, reply, “It’s just my job?” Have you ever been on the receiving end of that assertion [Continue Reading…]
Wanted: Courageous Leaders
November 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Note: This post originally appeared on my Optimize Business Results blog on February 19, 2011. Editorial changes have been made here. Organizations across the U.S., especially those in the public (government) sector, are struggling to overcome the obstacles and identify the opportunities presented in the aftermath of slashed budgets, plummeting revenues, and forced layoffs and [Continue Reading…]
