2008 Plum Book

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From the 2008 Transition Team Blog
October 6, 2008 11:43 AM

Running a campaign is different than running the government.

By The Site Administrator  |  5 comments

Campaigning is all about a potential president's vision for the country and what the government could become.  Running the government is about getting the most important initiatives accomplished with the financial and personnel resources allotted.

Governance - Operations - Management - Budget - Ingenuity

Why does OMB impose restrictive practice when it is a dire need to unleash human potential based on ingenuity to overcome the looming problem while reducing bureaucracy in the Governance.

Please checkout following article that deals with some of the prescriptive mechanism that OMB imposes with callous disregard for human ingenuity to find correct solutions to complex problems.

http://ingine.wordpress.com/2008/11/12/empirical-dilemma-clouds-omb’s-fea-segment-architecture-based-planning/

Regards
Srinidhi Boray

Administration and Government Management

Just a couple of thoughts on running a government. Having come to work for the Federal Government about three years ago, I'm genuinely amazed at how low the bar is set for administrative staff. As someone who has served as right arm to senior leadership in the private sector, I daily see ways to create efficiencies and improve effectiveness, particularly as it relates to information flow, communication, and establishing ownership.

Separately, as a U.S. citizen, I was very impressed with the Reagan Administration. Every letter I wrote to the President was answered by a staff member - a demonstration that there was order behind the scenes. In fact, I was added to the President's Christmas card list! I haven't seen an Administration since then that was as precise in managing its communications.

Bottom line - yes, our new president will have some very big fish to fry. That's a given. But let's remember that it's the invisible infrastructure of committed, inspired, and effective administrative staff that can "answer the mail" for governmental leaders. These positions are just as critical and should be viewed so.

100% Behind the New Administration

From Campaigning to Implementing

Running an effective campaign is about strategy, focus and communicating a consistent message, which President-Elect Obama and his team did very successfully. Now it will be about the nitty-gritty: about clarifying that vision - what are we changing to? and creating the definitive engagement processes, plans and behaviors that actually make it happen. We are undergoing a major transformation in America.. not to what we were, but to a newer, higher plane about what we can be. Americans need to be prepared to change themselves, not just the government to make that change happen, and accept collective responsibility. How successful the new administration is in achieving that sense of shared community and responsibility will go a long way towards restoring trust, getting things done, and rebuilding our global credibility.

Why campaigns are different from governing.

That's not quite the same thing, is it?

Campaign vs Governing

Campaign is 'marketing' its about creating a perception, while Governing is delivering within the confines of reality- which means executing while being decisive hour to day, days to month, months to year against shrinking resources and myriad gargantuan issues vying for attention.