John O'Leary

Recent Articles

• Steve Goldsmith to Bring "Better, Faster, Cheaper" Approach to New York City
• May 4, 2010
• It has been clear for some time that the innovative, cost-saving approaches highlighted at this site are in high demand among public officials. So it...

• Government Bashing:
• May 3, 2010
• Anger at government and its employees is in the news, amped up in part by a bad economy and fueled by broad dissatisfaction with politicians....

• Doing Less with Less
• Apr 27, 2010
• An article from today's Wall Street Journal documents the trend in government cutbacks: In Los Angeles this week, the mayor proposed closing most city offices...

• The Future of IT in the Public Sector
• Apr 15, 2010
• In this 5-minute video, Professor Jerry Mechling of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government looks at the future of technical innovation. He argues that what we've...

• New Column on Leadership: The Federal Coach
• Apr 9, 2010
• In a unique collaboration, The Washington Post and the Partnership for Public Service produce The Federal Coach, a leadership column and blog hosted by Tom...

• Government's Prize-winning Strategy
• Apr 7, 2010
• Want a solution? Try offering a prize. To spur innovation, the federal government is turning to competitions and crowdsourcing. When Charles Lindbergh flew across the...

• What is the Role of Big Citizenship in Social Innovation and Change?
• Apr 5, 2010
• In this column from the National Conference on Citizenship blog, Stephen Goldsmith weighs in on the role of social innovation in fostering approaches to big...

• Putting Trust in People: How Ordinary Citizens can Help Solve Social Ills
• Apr 1, 2010
• What can be done to catalyze and grow innovations that promise transformative social progress? In this interesting column from the Case Foundation blog, Stephen Goldsmith...

• Public Employees Making Government Better, Faster, and Cheaper
• Mar 30, 2010
• During this time of fiscal crisis, public employees are developing new and creative ways of helping the public and taxpayers save money while preserving quality...

• Book Review: Improving Government Services Through Unified Communication
• Mar 25, 2010
• First off, this 87-page book is available free as a download, so it has an endearing quality right off the bat. Secondly, it offers a...

• Put Your City or County on the 311 Map
• Mar 24, 2010
• I've complained before that established, proven technologies such as 311 aren't being adopted fast enough. Well, if you live in one of the many locations still...

• Fighting Poverty through Social Innovation
• Mar 22, 2010
• How do you nurture the best approaches to getting communities out of poverty? How can we abandon strategies that don't yield results, and grow the...

• Does Privatization Work for Cities?
• Mar 21, 2010
• It is an age-old debate: Can competitive outsourcing help struggling cities stretch scarce tax dollars? In this 8 minute video from the John Stossel show, Stephen...

• The Big Reset - States Cope with the "New Normal"
• Mar 18, 2010
• The National Governors Association's Center for Best Practices has just come out with a new study called "The Big Reset," which provides guidance for states...