Promoting a “Think Differently” Attitude at HHS
By Ned Holland, Assistant Secretary for Administration, HHS
Today marks a special occasion for all of us at HHS as Secretary Sebelius and our leadership celebrate the finalists of the HHSinnovates competition for the second half of 2011. Congratulations to the finalists for their achievements and being selected by you—the HHS workforce that voted for them. I am particularly delighted that we have the honor of hosting the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, John Berry, as our keynote speaker.
I’m always eager for these events because they give me insights into the many facets of the Department’s business operations, which are at the core of my own responsibilities. I enjoy meeting with the finalists and hearing about what inspires them, their challenges, and what they want to do next. While I find their winning innovations exciting, the most intriguing thing of all is how they did it. And that is what HHSinnovates is all about – human ingenuity. The hard work by the teams honored today features innovations in work processes, public-private partnerships, approaches to environmental sustainability, new concepts in customer services, and technology.
I encourage you to visit the HHSinnovates Winners Gallery to learn more about how innovators – perhaps someone in the office next to you – found the pathway for moving a problem to a solution. All of our agency leaders are looking for new ways to overcome some of our most vexing challenges. In fact, we are encouraging you to think differently in the way you approach your work. This indeed is the information and services age, and every part of our operation at HHS is right in the middle of it.
We cannot afford to let any good ideas sit idly in desk drawers or on desktops. Encourage your peers to consider new ways to share ideas, promote input from your stakeholders, and raise critical questions. Across this country, the business of government is changing rapidly. Let me know what you think about how we support innovation here at HHS.
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This kind of solution thinking is exactly what the country needs. I really appreciate a more "business like" approach from agencies across the US. The ideas of service (bringing the best value to the "customers" possible) is what actually brought us that far. Now we have to stay there. The idea of showing citizens how to stay healthy is old. However, communicating these points in an understandable way to a broad range of people, is what has been missing for a long while. That being said: Great job at moving forward in the right direction!