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…]
What You Didn’t Learn in ECON 101 CAN Hurt You
November 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Note: This post originally appeared on my Optimize Business Results blog on September 23, 2010. A few minor changes were made here. What criteria do you use for decision-making? If the amount of resources (e.g., time, effort, money) is the sole criterion, you could be making the wrong choices. A concept from Economics 101 called [Continue Reading…]
How to Sustain Behavioral Change in the Workplace
November 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Note: This post originally appeared on my Optimize Business Results blog on July 29, 2010. Given the dynamic environment in which we live, it should come as no surprise that some behaviors that worked in the past become ineffective over time. As a result, managers not only must persuade employees to adopt new behaviors, they [Continue Reading…]
What Do We Do Now?: Options for Allocating Scarce Resources When You Haven’t Planned Ahead
November 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Note: This post originally appeared on my Optimize Business Results blog on January 23, 2010. Although advance planning for resource allocation is the ideal scenario, many organizations found themselves caught short by the severe constraints imposed by the economic downturn. What are the alternatives when organizations are operating in crisis mode and there is no [Continue Reading…]
Guidelines for Allocating Scarce Resources
November 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Note: This post originally appeared on my Optimize Business Results blog on January 23, 2010. Scarce resources are a fact of business life. In the wake of devastating budget cuts, furloughs, and/or layoffs, however, “normal” levels of scarcity have been exacerbated. The question for many organizations has become, “How do we move forward from here [Continue Reading…]
