Customer-Driven Risk Management

Preston Finley, Director of Foresight, Strategic Planning & Risk Management at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs joined me on The Business of Government Hour to discuss the mission of his team and the importance of customer-driven risk management. Here’s a synopsis of our conversation.

 

Leadership Insights from Public Servants

For over twenty years, The Business of Government Hour has brought you leading government executives who are changing the way government does business. Each week, our guests join us for an informative, insightful, and in-depth conversation about the agencies they lead and the missions they pursue.  It is from this rich library that we have culled together their insights on leadership and what it means to be a public servant leader.

 

Strategic Foresight: Preparing Leaders for Future Challenges

Strategic foresight is “a planning tool to develop the critical thinking, planning, and management competencies for considering the impact of long-term uncertainties on near-term decision making.” [World Futures Rev. 2018; 25: 1–25]. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sees strategic foresight as a method for systematically considering a longer time horizon and broader scope of issues than other forms of planning.

Weekly Roundup: June 22-26, 2020

Michael J. Keegan

Leadership Insights from Admiral Mike Rogers (Ret.)

In a piece for The Business of Government magazine, “Power, Security, and Leadership”, I wrote: “Leaders are responsible for envisioning, shaping, and safeguarding the future, creating clarity amidst uncertainty. This is no small feat and it is made increasingly difficult in the 21st century where rapid, unforeseen change seems to be the only constant.”

COVID-19 Response: Largest Domestic Mobilization in Army Reserve History

For more than a century, the U.S. Army Reserve has delivered decisive capabilities to the battlefield, fulfilling its integral role as a force-provider, with approximately 200,000 soldiers spread across twenty time zones. Its role is more critical than ever in an age characterized by the persistent presence of asymmetric threats, as well as emerging, dynamic, and highly contentious challenges.

Weekly Roundup: June 15-19, 2020

Michael J. Keegan

Federal cloud demand shifts to apps. The remote work challenges under the COVID-19 pandemic mean that once "nice-to-have" technologies are now mission critical, leaders said.

Weekly Roundup: June 8-12, 2020

Michael J. Keegan

Cyber and IT challenges remain as Census resumes operations. The IT systems needed to carry out the 2020 census still face numerous testing challenges and unaddressed critical cybersecurity risks, according to a new audit from the Government Accountability Office.

Create the Future: Tactics for Disruptive Thinking

Today, we learn ways to create the future with Jeremy Gutsche, who joined me on The Business of Government Hour to discuss his book Create the Future: Tactics for Disruptive Thinking. “You are capable of much more than you think,” asserts Gutsche. Most people get stuck in established and recognized patterns of behavior that prevent them from seeing and seizing opportunities.

Weekly Roundup: June 1-5, 2020

Michael J. Keegan

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Leadership Fellow & Host, The Business of Government Hour
IBM Center for The Business of Government
600 14th Street, NW Second Floor
Washington, DC 20005
United States

Michael has two decades of experience with both the private and public sectors encompassing strategic planning, business process redesign, strategic communications and marketing, performance management, change management, executive and team coaching, and risk-financing.

Michael leads the IBM Center for The Business of Government's leadership research. As the Center’s Leadership Fellow, his work is at the nexus of the Center’s mission – connecting research to practice. My work at that the Center complements frontline experience of actual government executives with practical insights from thought leaders who produce Center reports – merging real-world experience with practical scholarship. The purpose is not to offer definitive solutions to the many management challenges facing executives, but to provide a resource from which to draw practical, actionable recommendations on how best to confront such issues. Michael also hosts and produces the IBM Center’s The Business of Government Hour. He has interviewed and profiled hundreds of senior government executives from all levels of government as well as recognized thought leaders focusing on a range of public management issues and trends. Over the last four years, Michael has expanded both the show’s format and reach – now broadcasting informational and educational conversations with dedicated public servants on two radio stations five times a week and anywhere at anytime over the web and at iTunes. Michael is also the managing editor of The Business of Government magazine, with a targeted audience of close to 14,000 government and non-government professionals. Additionally, he manages the Center’s bi-annual proposal review process that awards stipends to independent, third party researchers tackling a wide range of public management issues.

Prior to joining the Center, Michael worked as a senior managing consultant with IBM GBS (Global Business Services) and as a principle consultant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ Washington Consulting Practice (WCP). He led projects in the private and federal civilian sectors including the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, FEMA, and the Veterans Health Administration. Before entering consulting, he worked in the private sector as product development manager at a New York City based risk financing firm.

Since 2003, Mr. Keegan has been a reviewer for Association of Government Accountant’s Certificate of Excellence in Accountability Reporting (CEAR)© program, keeping abreast of the most recent developments in authoritative standards affecting federal accounting, financial reporting and performance measurement. He is also a member of APPAM, the NYU Alumni Association, and the Data Center & Cloud Talent, USA. He holds masters in public administration and management from New York University and was the founder of its DC alumni group as well as previous treasurer of the NYU graduate school’s alumni board.