Transition 2008

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Transition 2008

Transition 2000: George W. Bush

Monday, March 17th, 2008 - 16:48
3 comments
Swampland - TIME.com » Blog Archive Dispatches from Chicago

[...] pace compared to Clinton, who didn't make his first appointments until Dec. 10, 1992, and George W. Bush didn't name Andy Card his CoS until early January, though that process was obviously delayed by the [...]

11/06/2008 - 16:09
John Burke

Card tapped for chief of staff in January? Nonsense.

04/15/2009 - 18:11
John Kamensky

You may have mis-read. The text says "mid-October". . .

04/15/2009 - 21:11
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Transition 1992: Bill Clinton

Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 - 9:09
1 comments
Swampland - TIME.com » Blog Archive Dispatches from Chicago

[...] make more staffing announcements. So far this transition is going at lightening pace compared to Clinton, who didn't make his first appointments until Dec. 10, 1992, and George W. Bush didn't name Andy [...]

11/06/2008 - 15:50
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Transition 1988: George H.W. Bush

Monday, March 3rd, 2008 - 23:54
The Reagan to Bush transition has been characterized as a “friendly takeover.” This may have been true at the very top levels, but people I knew who were “on the ground level” in agencies saw it as being more difficult than a changeover between political parties. Pre-Election
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Transition 1980: Ronald Reagan

Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 - 11:18
Ronald Reagan’s transition has been characterized as one of the most effective in modern history.  It was well-planned, internal staff friction was limited, and a clear policy agenda led to quick wins in the first year of his Administration.
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Transition 1976: Jimmy Carter

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 - 13:27
1 comments
Norman M. Macdonald

During my years of Federal service I would say that Carter was one of the poorer examples of as a manager. Beautiful plans that constantly went astray.
We are faced with a transition of not only people but of place. It has been said by at least one of the candidates that we have to change from the bottom up. Given the existance of the various high tech electronic communications at is being used by the public this idea needs to become a reality. There have been limited attempts at this concept over the last thirty years and most were killed by benign neglect. I was a part of a number of these and I saw how the command and control mind set found at ingenious methods of suborning them.

02/21/2008 - 20:32
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Ready on Day One

Tuesday, February 12th, 2008 - 15:23
1 comments
Norman M. Macdonald

Nine million dollars that's enough to cover moving,travel and maybe Metro fare. I will quote Robert Burns (in 21st Century English) " the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray and leave pain for promised joy". On the other hand collecting solid information will help if you do what you have to do, with what you have,where you are. This transition has many of the dynamics of the one of 1932/33. Washington legend has it that FDR created the New Deal with a crew of folks at night around the White House kitchen table. People who had the needed information. Also there is a rumor that they used Norman Thomas's 1932 platform as a part of the information.

02/15/2008 - 00:21
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"Not My Mission" Syndrome

Wednesday, February 6th, 2008 - 19:01
1 comments
Norman M. Macdonald

Not My Mission is a member of a family of rules sometime called the NIH (not invented here) family it has siblings in It Didn't Happen on MY Watch, Refer To Higher Authority, Run It Up The Flagpost, ect, ect ad nausium. It is the language of command and control which is not the purpose of a democracy. A democracy is a collaborative effort between people within a mutually agreed on framework to support the common welfare.

02/07/2008 - 23:59
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Presidential Campaign Update

Wednesday, January 30th, 2008 - 13:40
2 comments
Norman M. Macdonald

I note that one one candidate seems to be pressing for an open government. The idea of cabinet members holding town meetings is very interesting. What we need to start is give and take meetings To let folks know they are the government. We need a community builder who will take down walls,

01/31/2008 - 14:59
John Kamensky

Hi Norm -- The Clinton/Gore "reinventing government" initiative piloted the use of town hall meetings by agency heads. That initiative, "Conversations with America," resulted in hundreds of town halls around the country and agency heads found they learned a lot from direct interactions with their agencies' customers. In recent months, several agency heads in the Bush Administration have started blogs and are getting comments. This is an electronic form of creating some back-and-forth, but it may not be as effective as actually getting out into communities.

02/07/2008 - 17:44
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Visionary vs. CEO

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008 - 17:56
3 comments
Norm Linsky

Mr. Kamensky, thank you for your thoughtful blog entry on this critically important topic. We look forward to further postings from you.

01/26/2008 - 12:46
John Kamensky

Norm -- Thanks! Your insights are welcome, as well! JOHN

01/27/2008 - 00:12
Norman M. Macdonald

John:
In the Second Tradition of AA there is a statement "Our leaders are but trusted servants, they do not govern". Some where in the command and control mind set the fact that you serve those you led has been lost, John Kennedy was awarded the Navy and Maine Corps Medal for his life saving efforts when PT-109 was ramed and sunk.
Norm

01/27/2008 - 20:57
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Implementer-in-Chief

Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 - 14:55
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one_time97

John--

I would be interested in your views (and Bob's) on the advantages and disadvantages of an implementer-in-chief vs. a President who see his role more as inspiring and setting a strategic direction. This recently has become a bit of an issue, of course among the Democrats. (See http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008801150354) I am less interested in the particulars of that debate since it partisan and beyond my scope, but the general point being raised is a good one to consider.

01/17/2008 - 17:28
John Kamensky

Dear One-Timer – I wrote this posting with the tongue-in-cheek title of “Implementer-in-Chief” before the Clinton-Obama debate on the topic. I never thought the topic would actually be discussed in the campaign! I was fascinated by the interchange, captured by Government Executive’s editor Tom Shoop in his blog yesterday (see http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/2008/01/clinton_obama_put_focus_on_man.php).

My short-hand observation is: there’s not an “either/or” distinction between the need for a visionary versus an implementer in the Presidency. We need both traits. Too much in either direction results in disadvantages that outweigh any advantages of a particular leaning. The art is to get the balance right, at the right time. I’ll elaborate in my next posting.

I thought it was interesting that in yesterday’s Washington Post, columnist David Broder also focused on this issue, but from another vantage point. He pointed to candidates in the Republican primary who had more executive branch management experience than the Democratic front runners. (see http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/16/AR200801...)

I’m amazed at how much the campaigns are focusing on leadership and managerial competence, at such an early stage in the election cycle. I can’t remember this occurring before.

I’m assuming the “Bob” you are referring to is my old colleague Bob Stone, the former “energizer in chief” of the National Performance Review in the Clinton-Gore Administration (also known as the National Partnership for Reinventing Government; see: http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/index.htm) In that role, he was an inspiring visionary, and kept his hand on how the operation was managed. I’m sure he’d be more than willing to weigh in!

01/18/2008 - 11:37
Bob Stone

The President's first responsibility is to inspire and to set strategic directions clearly enough that people can apply their talents to moving in the direction the President has set.

Second he or she must find and appoint people with the talent and motivation to carry out the responsibilities they'll be given.

Third is to keep repeating #1 and to keep checking in with cabinet members on how they're doing. This can be done effectively and efficiently through simple performance agreements between the President and each cabinet member--no more than a page and no more than three objectives. The agenda for EVERY meeting between the President and the Cabinet member should start with the performance agreement. No red-yellow-green circles, but a conversation. It's still the best way for the President to close the loop between vision and performance.

01/18/2008 - 13:23
Norman M. Macdonald

I belive the point was let's look at the system now being used in Baltimore and is being put in place in the entire state of Maryland. It is a template on how to implement a new paradigm.

01/22/2008 - 22:00
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