Management Matters with James-Christian Blockwood

Host James-Christian Blockwood interviews Soraya Correa, President and CEO of  the National Industries for the Blind and former Chief Procurement Officer at the US Department of Homeland Security,  and Greg Giddens, of Potomac Ridge Consulting, and former Chief Acquisition Officer at the US Department of Veterans Affairs, on how federal acquisition enables mission outcomes beyond compliance.
 Giddens describes procurement as a strategic bridge between government missions and private industry, with compliance baked into the process, and argues acquisition should be involved early and represented at the C-suite. Correa says the FAR rarely blocks results; problems often come from how regulations are interpreted, and effective reform depends on curiosity, planning for change, and calibrating risk to mission urgency. 
Both stress change management through clear, transparent communication of the “why,” early wins, shared credit, and teamwork, learning from imperfect procurements and solving issues collaboratively. Correa advises emerging leaders to build relationships early, stay close to customers and staff, challenge constraints with solutions, and lead with courage rather than fear. Giddens advises industry to understand the process, persist through obstacles, engage early within boundaries, and tailor solutions to agency needs.

00:00 Build Relationships Early
01:31 Acquisition as Strategy
03:30 Smart Reform Mindset
05:35 Change Management Playbook
07:13 Leadership Skills Today
09:17 Customer and Team Trust
10:00 Learning From Failure
12:10 Seat at the Table
13:09 Courage Over Fear
15:45 Advice for Industry
Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by Lizzie Alwan and Matt Hampton and edited by Matt Hampton. 
Support the Podcast Today at: [email protected] or 202-347-3190
Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Follow us on YouTube for clips and more: @NAPAWASH_YT

James-Christian Blockwood discusses U.S. Office of Personnel Management's modernization of federal HR and retirement IT systems with OPM’s Rebecca Ayers and Academy Fellow Brodi Fontenot. 
Building on a 2021 academy report urging congressional funding to modernize OPM systems, they describe the administration’s goal to build a merit-based workforce and modernize people management through the Federal HR 2.0 initiative. 
Key elements include moving agencies onto a mandatory single core HCM platform to replace over 100 systems, improve data, speed retirement processing, enable employee self-service, and generate an estimated nearly $1 billion in savings, alongside a voluntary OPM Shared Service Center offering standardized operational services and strategic consulting. They highlight historical swings between decentralization and centralization, the change-management challenges of standardization, feedback loops, and long-term commitment, and note upcoming milestones such as announcing the new core HCM system and additional agencies opting into shared services.
00:50 Modernization Stakes
02:34 Federal HR 2.0 Vision
04:58 Shared Services Context
07:41 Centralize Versus Decentralize
10:34 Change Management Hurdles
12:51 Mandatory Versus Voluntary
16:19 Why Now
17:17 Public Impact
21:09 Leader Playbook
22:37 Next Milestones
Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by Lizzie Alwan and Matt Hampton and edited by Matt Hampton. 
Support the Podcast Today at: [email protected] or 202-347-3190
Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Follow us on YouTube for clips and more: @NAPAWASH_YT

Host James-Christian Blockwood talks with Academy Fellow and McGeorge School of Law Professor Clark Kelso and American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Adam White about why public agencies struggle and what the executive branch does in response. They discuss how checks and balances slow action and make errors hard to undo, while polarization and congressional dysfunction push presidents toward unilateral action, creating separation-of-powers conflicts and court intervention. 
The conversation centers on Schedule F and fears it could expand political appointments and erode civil service protections. They conclude trust is rebuilt through tangible, non-rhetorical improvements, suggesting a public-safety focus like FAA modernization.

01:14 Why Agencies Fail
03:25 Checks Balances and Speed
05:22 Congress Gridlock Executive Action
09:44 Unitary Executive and Independence
12:47 Courts Guardrails and Chevron
15:44 Real World Impacts and Trust
19:30 Reforming Bureaucracy and DOGE
23:45 Schedule F Debate
29:31 Rebuilding Trust and Optimism

Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by Lizzie Alwan and Matt Hampton and edited by Matt Hampton. 
Support the Podcast Today at: [email protected] or 202-347-3190
Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Follow us on YouTube for clips and more: @NAPAWASH_YT

Host James-Christian Blockwood interviews Teri Gullo, former CBO Director of Budget Analysis, and Karl Maschino, former GAO Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, about why federal budget work matters amid scrutiny of spending, workforce cuts, and “DOGE”-style reforms. 
 They outline the normal OMB-agency-Congress budget timeline, emphasize GAO/CBO’s nonpartisan transparency and need to explain “the story behind the numbers,” discuss polarization blocking fiscal solutions as net interest costs reach over $1 trillion, and urge young public servants to see budgeting as policy and values.
Chapters: 
01:11 Reform Cycle or Shock
03:09 Congress vs Executive Power
04:18 How Budgeting Works
07:20 Executing Enacted Budgets
08:30 Speaking Truth to Power
12:55 Fixing an Unsustainable Path?
15:42 Management Lessons Learned
20:49 Making Big Numbers Real
24:39 Advice for New Public Servants
Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by Lizzie Alwan and Matt Hampton and edited by Matt Hampton. 
Support the Podcast Today at: [email protected] or 202-347-3190
Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Follow us on YouTube for clips and more: @NAPAWASH_YT

Acting Comptroller General of the United States and Head of the US Government Accountability Office Orice Williams Brown joined us in conversation at the Academy offices last month to talk about a hugely important document to everyone in the federal government: the GAO High Risk List.
For more than three decades, the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s High-Risk List has identified programs vulnerable to waste, mismanagement, and operational weakness. But beyond oversight, the High-Risk List has become a powerful driver of modernization, reform, and performance improvement across government.
Brown joined Academy Fellow Kimberly Walton of the Standing Panel on the Public Service to talk about how agencies and priorities get on the High Risk List, why some welcome it, and what it takes to be moved off!
Stick around to learn what the future might hold for GAO and more.
Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by Lizzie Alwan and Matt Hampton and edited by Matt Hampton. 
Support the Podcast Today at: [email protected] or 202-347-3190
Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Follow us on YouTube for clips and more: @NAPAWASH_YT