Learning The Ropes

Learning the Ropes: Insights for Political Appointees is geared to providing helpful advice to new political appointees on a variety of topics related to the challenge of managing in government. Chapter two by Judith Michaels presents key lessons learned from two surveys of previous political appointees, as well as personal interviews with nearly 50 former political executives from both Democratic and Republican administrations. Chapter three by Joseph Ferrara and Lynn Ross dispel common myths held by political appointees about careerists and by careerists about political appointees and sets forth constructive "rules of engagement" that political and career executives can use to form partnerships in achieving the administration's program and policy objectives. Chapter four by John Trattner presents advice for working with Congress, including an overview of how Congress functions, how decisions on money and programs are made, appropriators and authorizers, legislators and their constituencies, oversight, and how to get things done. Chapter five by John Trattner describes how political appointees can work with the media, including advice on how to minimize the impact of bad news, offensive and defensive strategies, and how to survive in the government/media culture. Chapter six by Mark Abramson and Paul Lawrence presents useful advice on eight lessons involved in transforming organizations. Chapter seven by Dana Michael Harsell presents advice for political appointees on working with career executives to "manage for results." The final chapter by Chris Wye describes how political executives can overcome common problems in the design, alignment, use, and communication of performance measures and information.

Learning the Ropes: Insights for Political Appointees is geared to providing helpful advice to new political appointees on a variety of topics related to the challenge of managing in government. Chapters include advice of how to work well with career executives, how to work with congress and media, and how to effectively manage their own organization. A major theme throughout the book is that creating productive partnerships with career civil servants is crucial to the achievement of Administration goals and objectives.

Mark A. Abramson is Executive Director of the IBM Center for the Business of Government, a position he has held since July 1998. Mr. Abramson was awarded the Laverne Burchfield Award for his article "The Leadership Factor" that was selected as the Best Book Review of 1989 published in Public Administration Review. In 1989, he received the Elmer B. Staats Award for Accountability in Government by the National Capital Area Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration. Dr. Paul R. Lawrence is vice president with IBM's Business Consulting Services. Dr. Lawrence works with federal executives, helping them solve complex problems, by applying solutions proven in similar government settings or the private sector. He is also the Partner-in-charge of the IBM Center for the Business of Government, which seeks to advance knowledge on how to improve public sector effectiveness (www.businessofgovernment.org). He is the host of the weekly radio show, the Business of Government Hour, heard on WJFK FM 106.7 Saturdays at 9-10 a.m., where he interviews government leaders about their job, career and vision for the future of government. Since the show began in 1999, he has interviewed 150 senior government leaders in the Clinton and Bush administrations. He is the editor of the Business of Government Journal. He is also the co-editor of Transforming Organizations and the editor of the book series, which has produced 12 books on government management topics. (www.romanlittlefield.com/series).