As people from coast to coast think long and hard about the best performance measures to use, another crucial question often goes under the radar.  How do we know exactly where to set the targets, against which we’ll gauge the degree of success on a particular issue? And how can those targets help focus our attention on a strategic plan for progress?

The White House Twitter feed recently created a survey and asked followers to submit their opinions on how they liked @WhiteHouse and how the @WhiteHouse team could improve their feed.  Here is a quick list of three suggestions that would improve @WhiteHouse - or any other communications-intensive organization. 1. Use hashtags

The use of prizes and awards is a visible element of the Obama Administration’s efforts to promote innovation in government. For example, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has sponsored a competition among federal employees to find cost savings and the White House has created the “challenge.gov” website where federal agencies can pose problems in hopes of getting solutions from the public.  OMB issued guidance to encourage agencies to offer challenges and prizes, as well.  

This discussion honed in on how commercial organizations have implemented practices to remain globally competitive that have also provided a significant return on investment – and how those practices could easily transfer to government organizations. 

President Obama has made private sector innovation a centerpiece of the Administration’s agenda for growth and job creation.  This is a subject that has broad support across the spectrum:  citizens, businesses and governments all look to commercial activity as an economic engine; new technologies play a key role in this pursuit.  The Nation’s Chief Technology Officer, Aneesh Chopra, has been a very visible leader of this activity, with frequent and recent blogs through the White House and media web sites (

Last week, the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform made recommendations to our leaders that identify savings opportunities to reduce the national debt.  The opportunities target roughly the same time horizon as my report does and identifies nearly four times as much potential savings.

1.  Reform the contracting and buying systems.   Last year, President Obama and OMB directed agencies to change their approach to contracting by (1) increasing competition, (2) increasing the use of fixed-price contracts, (3) increasing the capacity of the contracting officer workforce, (4) revisiting the definition of “inherently governmental” work, and (5) revisiting the kinds of work contracted out, with a goal of reducing reliance on contractors by reducing total value of contracts by $40 billion a year.  These various steps were articulated in a ser

The Technology CEO Council (TCC) shared a proposal with the White House this week recommends using commercial best practices to save up to $1 trillion dollars over the next 10 years while actually improving the performance of government.  Sam Palmisano, CEO of IBM, was joined by Michael Dell, CEO of Dell, to share their perspectives with key economic advisors at the White House.&

For those who have answered the call to public service, there are many stakeholder groups you will encounter while in government. Understanding the relationship with each stakeholder will be useful in achieving your goals. This article focusing on working with the White House is adapted from a piece in getting it Done: A guide for government Executives (Washington, DC: IBM Center for The Business of Government, 2008).

David Venturella, Executive Director, Secure Communities U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.