Month: November 2013

• Chief Conversationalist: Why Federal Agencies Still Shy Away From Real Engagement

  It is better to be the river than the moat. Photo by Colin via Flickr. Recently I read that people trust federal employees, but they don’t trust the federal government as a whole. According to survey after survey, trust in this institution is at an “all time low.” From a common sense point of view,…

  dannielleblumenthal

  November 30, 2013

• My Top 10 Principles for Federal Digital Engagement, FY2014

  Like Swiss cheese, real transparency is open and engaging (well, to most people). Photo via Flickr. I’m the Director of Digital Engagement for a Federal Agency, the National Archives and Records Administration. We’re talking about how we evolve our social media plan into something bigger, broader, and more like what we have implemented on the…

  dannielleblumenthal

  November 28, 2013

• Focus: It Is Always A Problem Of Leadership

  Sherlock Holmes has focus. “What are we trying to achieve here?” It’s such a simple question. But for a messed-up organization, the answer is impossible. They’re divided against each other on the inside, fighting to look good on the outside, and afraid to stand behind a priority that isn’t the flavor of the day. So…

  dannielleblumenthal

  November 27, 2013

• Collaboration, Or Have You Been Played?

    Photo by Kenneth Lu via Flickr “I am not your Governor.” That great line from The Walking Dead rang in my ears as I watched the latest episode, where the bad guy pretends to be reformed and then shows his true colors.  As a leader, this character takes it right out of the nastiest…

  dannielleblumenthal

  November 26, 2013

• Open Government, Branding & The Fishbowl

  Photo by Tristan Ferne via Flickr In today’s “open,” social media-dominated times, private sector branding and government branding are completely different animals. Private sector branding is about making money through the construction of an image that adds a premium to the real value of the product. Given the raging demand for authenticity, the strategy is…

  dannielleblumenthal

  November 24, 2013

• Couples Therapy

  Photo by Francis Norman via Flickr Old Gov and New Gov finally went to see a therapist. It was that, or part ways after so many years. The two of them started out happy, but New Gov had recently received her “15 Years of Service” pin. Though she had only a dozen or so years…

  dannielleblumenthal

  November 23, 2013

• I’m With Stupid

  Photo by dbkfrog via Flickr The following conversation never occurred, but it could have.There we were at the conference table. Yet another meeting. Close to sundown, as the days are growing short. “I have to tell you something,” I said. “Okay.” “I don’t think I’m as smart as I need to be. And it bothers…

  dannielleblumenthal

  November 22, 2013

• Beautiful Ugly

  Photo by CameliaTWU via Flickr My mother is absolutely beautiful. But if you asked her, she would tell you she is ugly. I love my mother more because she is who she is. People who lie, whose faces are a mask of plastic surgery, are repulsive no matter how beautiful they are. Falsehood makes us…

  dannielleblumenthal

  November 21, 2013

• Innovation Is Supposed To Feel Bad, Not Good

  Photo by Meg Hourihan via Flickr When you work for an innovative person, it is actually like living underneath skis. There they are, flying high, doing all sorts of exciting stunts. And you are looking up from underneath. You know they’re going to land, right? And when that happens, boy will it make a big…

  dannielleblumenthal

  November 19, 2013

• Quantum Physics & Guardian Angels

  Photo by Allen County Public Library via Flickr This week the U.K. Daily Mail published an article about Professor Robert Lanza’s theory that death is an illusion created in our own minds. Lanza’s theory, “biocentrism,” uses quantum physics to make his case. I’m no quantum physicist, but I have always believed there’s a “before” and an “after.”…

  dannielleblumenthal

  November 17, 2013