Just a quick hi to my readers from Burbank Airport. I’m about to hop on the plan back to Sacramento and taking a few moments to catch up on emails, and maybe do a little work. During this trip, I learned a few things.
I can hack my iPhone to tether 3G internet for a quick email or getting online for a bit. No thanks to AT&T for not formally having a plan for tethering in the US. I’m more than happy to pay a monthly fee for this service but if they’re not going to provide it, I’ll find a way.
I can find a WIFI signal almost anywhere. I was able to pick up a WIFI signal at the hotel to bypass over priced hotel WIFI. Seriously, $12.95 a day is no way to treat a customer that already paid a lot for his room.
I can type fast. Being able to type fast is a great skill to have. However, too fast and then you’re a glorified secretary. Just fast enough to get work done efficiently, no more, no less.
When you read the paper or listen to governments speak about their plans to make up for budget deficits, you realize that they’re playing a phony game. It’s all about trimming around the edges. Take a few thousand from the printing supplies budget line, cut a few travel expenses, and maybe eliminate some positions due to retirement or attrition. On paper, that may reduce the gap. However, what has government really been doing to fundamentally change the way it does business.
Let’s take a hypothetical example. A city has a budget of $400M. It’s revenues are $350M, leaving a deficit of $50M. In order to close that gap, the city starts to trim around the edges, making small incremental cuts. Department heads all say that they are too important to be cut. If we cut police, who will protect the children. If we cut the fire department, who will save the children. If we cut parks and recreation, where will the children play. So eventually, the city will cut things, shift current needs to the future, and play accounting with the budget and claim that they successfully closed the gap. Until next year. Rinse, wash, and repeat.
What if we started with the premise of “if we had $350M to build government, how would we do it?” If we can just take a blank slate, and build things from the ground up, how would it look? Do we need as many departments, scattered across the city? Do we need to build processes to control $20 transactions?
If you simply flip the problem on the other side, it suddenly changes the ball game. This would be a very interesting case study if a government entity can find a way to build from the ground up.
The majority of my posts to this blog has been more of insights and lessons learned. In preparation for the announcement of the alumni bloggers in the Dean’s Winter Report, I just wanted to give my visitors an update of where I am since graduating from Pepperdine School of Public Policy in 2005.
Since graduation, I have accomplished the following notable items:
Worked at an IT strategic planning firm in Bellevue, Washington with two major clients in the City of Boise, Idaho and Surrey, Canada.
Worked at the California State Auditor’s office on medical contracting practices with the Department of Corrections, audited Proposition 69 DNA Identification Funds, provided oversight functions for the State FI$Cal project.
Implemented electronic workpaper system (PWC TeamMate) for the California State Auditor’s office.
Joined Macias Consulting Group, the consulting arm of notable accounting and CPA firm Macias Gini and O’Connell as Senior Consultant.
Implemented an organization-wide change management program for a large transit agency in California.
Promoted to Manager at Macias Consulting Group.
Assisted the Washington State Auditor’s Office in identifying and prioritizing performance audits by developing and implementing a statewide risk assessment.
In all three of these professional jobs I’ve held, I innovated new ways to analyze and present information using design, layout, methods and techniques, and cutting edge tools.
Keep coming back for more updates and many more exciting adventures to come.
A short report, presentation, letter, memo, or document is often many times as hard to write than its long counterpart. Anyone can write a 20 page report, it takes talent to condense all that information in to a one page briefing. So why do you see such poorly written documents both online and offline?
The amount of effort required to draft, edit, and produce any type of document increases exponentially as you approach one page. However, short documents are many times more effective at conveying the message and initiating action.
“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” – Mark Twain
An example of a writing program
Washington State Governor Gregoire issued Executive Order 05-03 which requires all Washington State public agencies to use simple and clear language when communicating with the public and businesses. The “plain talk” guidelines include:
Simplify your writing to effectively communicate your ideas
Writing is a life long learning process. It takes years to develop an effective style and voice. I’ve found that my best work often is the shortest documents but also took the most of my time to develop. All my writing is customized based on need, audience, and subject matter. In all cases, it’s written so a layperson can understand it without needing to know background context and technical jargon.
“I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English – it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don’t let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don’t mean utterly, but kill most of them – then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice.” – Another Mark Twain quote
Daniel advises governmental agencies, businesses, and individuals on performance management, business processes, and strategic planning to improve organizational development and long-term growth. He is an experienced consultant, auditor, and strategic planner, and has over 10 years of online social media and social networking experience.
The posts on this site, including but not limited to images, links, and comments by left by readers, are my own and don’t necessarily represent my employers positions, strategies or opinions.
