I've got a chance tomorrow to work with Steve Jennings, HPG Member and CIO of Harris County, Texas; Dan Mintz, CIO of the U.S. Department of Transportation; and Jon Kost, worldwide head of public sector work for Gartner now, and formerly CIO of Michigan.

We'll talk about the role of IT as a tool for innovation in government, and how governments and leaders in government can keep up the challenges and make sensible decisions.

I think it's important for governments to sense accurately the demands for innovation and respond with the right level of effort and the right leadership approach. In general, as the world continues to grow more turbulent and require more innovation -- including in government and perhaps even especially in government -- leaders need to become more active, more adaptive, and more partner-oriented in how they innovate.

Check with us tomorrow @ 3 pm Eastern time if you're want to hear more and contribute questions to the discussion. It's a free session run through the Ash Center of the Kennedy School. The link for registration is here.

Best regards,

Jerry

If you're able to get to the Kennedy School tomorrow -- Friday December 7 @ 11:30 - 1:00 in Littauer 130 -- we'll have food plus interesting discussion with one of the winners of the Ash Institute Awards this year -- the Access Florida program.

This group has addressed what I believe is perhaps THE prototypical problem of next wave IT-enabled change in government -- cross-boundary integration.

They have not merely delivered information or services program-by-program over the web. They have enabled cross-program search and application/eligibility determination.

To learn more, and to see whether this might fit in settings close to you, join us if you can.

Cheers,

Jerry 

You can learn more about Access Florida here. 

CAN you drink from a fire hose? Not really. At least, not directly. You need to slow the water down, capture it, taste it, digest it.

I'm at Heathrow Airport now, on the way back from a packed 3-day training session with one of our sponsors, focusing on how to "think like a public sector leader" on issues of technology-enabled change. It gathered a huge group of people, Powerpoints, and ideas -- many that seemed right on. (The days were so packed I regrettably missed the evening tour of the Pyramids.)

The best thing, however, was a willingness to focus not just on issues and ideas, but also on the digestion and use of those ideas, on translating them from "out there" (the world of Harvard research or headquarter's policy) to "in here" (how the ideas fit and functioned in the front-line world of field personnel).

This was relatively easy to do. Presentations simply needed to give real time -- from 30-50% of the total -- to interactive discussion to clarify the ideas and how they might be applied. I would have put even more time into having participants discuss in small groups and plenary sessions what they planned to do with the ideas "back home."

I've been impressed over the years by students who remember years later a position they argued on a case study. They don't remember what I said, mind you,but rather what they said when prodded by the flow of the discussion to get engaged.

I've also been dismayed by how many conferences and training sessions succomb to the pressures to cover more topics and squeeze out participant interaction. I understand the pressures -- with revenue targets of $60,000 per day per employee, firms recognize that time away from selling is EXPENSIVE. They want to pack in as much information as possible.

Unfortunately, multiple days of talking heads and Powerpoints in a darkened room rarely convey information that is useful. People-- even thirsty people -- just can't drink from a fire hose.

Best regards,

Jerry

===

Our next Leadership for a Networked World workshop:
http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/execed/lnw2