Management Matters with James-Christian Blockwood

James-Christian Blockwood is joined by Partnership for Public Service President & CEO Max Stier for a conversation about defending public servants and public service today and into the future.

Are we living through a five-alarm fire for government and public management? How can public servants deliver for the American people while also in fear for their careers and livelihoods? Max helps us interpret what we're seeing, and raises some questions about what may be next for the federal government.

This episode is also our first full edition presented in both video and audio formats!

Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration, presented by Concourse. Produced by Nabeel Chollampat, with support from Matt Hampton and Jacob Clemente.

Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com
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We've got a special announcement this week: Management Matters will have a new partner going forward, Concourse!

Management Matters will move to a weekly cadence next month, and every other week we'll be joined on the podcast by our new co-host, Concourse CEO Thomas Smyth. These episodes will focus on tech and innovation in government, as the AI Age brings public service and public administration into new frontiers.

The podcast is also now available in a video format through YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Keep following along for what's next as we tackle the biggest challenges in government, now with the help of our partners at Concourse!

Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration, produced by Nabeel Chollampat, with support from Matt Hampton and Jacob Clemente.

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 interviews Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, Governing’s 2026 Public Official of the Year, and National Association of Counties CEO Matt Chase about executive leadership and city-county collaboration amid declining public trust, affordability pressures, and shifting federal policies and funding. They argue local governments must work together through regionalism, clarify roles, and focus on outcomes rather than institutional power

01:11 Why City-County Ties Matter
04:50 Federal Disruption and Trust
07:20 Columbus's Regional Housing Plan
10:25 Regionalism, Land, and Taxes
13:03 Handling Polarizing Issues
18:16 NACo Playbook for Working Amidst Challenges
21:12 Local Wins in Education
24:42 Transit and Affordability
28:11 Advice: Check Your Ego

Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by and edited by Matt Hampton.

Support the Podcast Today at: donate@napawash.org or 202-347-3190
Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com
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Host James-Christian Blockwood interviews former U.S. Mint directors Ed Moy (38th) and Ventris Gibson (40th) about how U.S. currency, specifically coinage, is created and managed. They discuss why physical currency still matters for the unbanked and for privacy concerns, and why bullion demand spikes in crises. The conversation covers the costs and policy debates around the penny and nickel, Mint finances through seigniorage, how coin designs are authorized and approved, and advice urging White House and congressional collaboration with the Mint.

01:29 What the US Mint Does
04:01 Coins vs Paper Money
05:14 Running the Mint Up Close
06:51 If the Mint Disappeared
09:27 Unbanked and Bullion Demand
11:29 The Penny Debate
15:19 Nickels and Mint Economics
17:23 Future of Coinage and Privacy
19:23 Who Chooses Coin Designs
22:49 Advice for Congress and White House

Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by and edited by Matt Hampton.

Support the Podcast Today at: donate@napawash.org or 202-347-3190
Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com
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With back-to-school season in full swing, we've got two Fellows and public administration education experts on the podcast: David Van Slyke, dean of The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, and Susan Gooden, professor and former dean of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. Both join host James-Christian Blockwood for a very educational discussion.

They share challenges and triumphs in public administration education, and what may be next for schools around the country.

Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by and edited by Matt Hampton.

Support the Podcast Today at: donate@napawash.org or 202-347-3190
Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com
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Daniel Schuman of the American Governance Institute joins Management Matters host James-Christian Blockwood this week!

Are we in a “crisis point” for U.S. institutions driven by expanded presidential power, courts overturning precedent and reshaping agency independence, and Congress failing to assert its authorities? Daniel Schuman brings an encyclopedic knowledge of history and the legislative branch to a discussion about what may be next for the federal government.

00:00 Elections And Escalation
01:32 Institutions At A Crossroads
03:08 Defining The Crisis
05:26 Restoring Checks And Balances
09:39 Power Vacuum And A New Deal Lesson
12:01 Elections Could Worsen Tensions
15:17 Durable Democracy Reforms
17:55 The Challenges of Elections and the Courts
22:26 Modernizing Congress with Incentives
25:55 Reasons For Optimism

James-Christian Blockwood interviews Academy Fellow Dr. Howard Balanoff of the William P. Hobby Center for Public Service at Texas State University and municipal attorney Alan Bojorquez about defining “good government” amid declining public trust and growing conflict at even local meetings.

We learn about the value of the "Ten Texas Traits of Good Government": Good Government is Respectful, Responsive, Effective, Transparent, Competent, Ethical, Lawful, Innovative, Fiscally Sound, and Accountable.

00:00 Qualified Leaders Matter
01:06 Defining Good Government
02:31 Ethics and Competence
03:44 Trust and Public Cynicism
06:46 Ten Texas Traits
09:08 Traits Explained
14:07 Training Elected Officials
15:08 Advice for Newcomers
18:44 Personal Commitments
21:43 Transparency and Engagement

Check out the 10 Texas Traits here: https://texasmunicipallawyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ten-Texas-Traits-of-Good-Gov.pdf

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: donate@napawash.org or 202-347-3190
Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com
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Host James-Christian Blockwood interviews Ambassador Joe Westphal and former senior FBI executive Lauren Anderson about how national security has evolved from the Cold War through 9/11 to today’s interconnected threats, including terrorism, geopolitical shifts, and emerging technologies. Both warn that global changes, partner uncertainty, polarization, and reduced information sharing can make the U.S. less safe, alongside a loss of government expertise and strained diplomacy.

01:55 How Security Has Changed
03:17 Collaboration And Trust
05:11 Today’s Threat Landscape
09:11 Eroding Trust And Expertise
15:09 Rebuilding Trust
18:49 Listening And Self Correction
21:39 Serving Above Politics
23:02 Advice For Next Generation
26:16 Checks And Balances

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: donate@napawash.org or 202-347-3190
Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com
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In this special Crossover episode with Governance Matters, James-Christian Blockwood is joined by Raphe Sonenshein, President and CEO of the the Haynes Foundation.

We're focused on local government charters as “local constitutions” that can be changed more easily, and impact people more immediately, than the U.S. Constitution.

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: donate@napawash.org or 202-347-3190
Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com
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It's a special “Management Matters with James-Christian Blockwood” episode featuring highlights from the Academy’s Celebration of the American Public Servant 250 Gala at the Library of Congress during America’s 250th anniversary, including a Future of Public Service panel with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Inspector General Michael Horowitz, retired Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Joanne Bass, and remarks from Senator Tammy Duckworth

Sen. Duckworth shares a combat story about a young door gunner, Kurt, using it as a metaphor for public servants who “stand the perimeter” by showing up daily despite limited glamour or pay.

Mayor Bowser discusses serving D.C.’s residents and improving the city through neighborhood-level engagement and school recovery outcomes. Chief Bass calls for earlier character and citizenship education, a national effort to improve the narrative of service, and broader support for military recruitment. IG Horowitz describes motivation rooted in immigrant family history, rule of law, prosecuting police corruption, and nonpartisan oversight.

01:12 Sen. Duckworth and the "Standing the Perimeter" Message
05:41 Panel Begins and Introductions
06:02 Mayor Bowser on Why She Serves
07:45 Chief Bass on Why She Served
09:46 IG Horowitz Why Accountability Matters
13:48 Mayor Bowser on Trust and Community Change
17:10 Making Service Appeal to Youth
20:26 Next 250 Years Takeaways

Host James-Christian Blockwood discusses government performance and HR systems with Gabe Menchaca of the Niskanen Center and Academy Fellow and Government HR expert Steve Krauss.

Menchaca summarizes a Niskanen-Academy study describing wide variation in state civil service models, limited scholarship on state HR, and mixed early results from skills-based hiring due to assessment and measurement bottlenecks and inconsistent time-to-hire metrics.

Kraussand Menchaca distinguish nonpartisan hiring from competition-based merit and argue modern merit depends on valid skills assessments. Krauss emphasizes strategic workforce planning, job architecture, skills frameworks, and HR IT modernization, citing initiatives like HR 2.0, USA Hire modernization, online retirement, and more.

00:36 HR Systems Overview
01:19 State HR Study Findings
05:43 Strategic Workforce Planning
08:47 Merit Versus Skills Hiring
13:58 Reimagining Federal HR
17:59 Job Architecture And Classification
19:16 Modernizing HR IT Systems
21:48 Bipartisan Reform Lessons
25:54 Incremental Wins And Big Changes

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: donate@napawash.org or 202-347-3190
Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com
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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: donate@napawash.org or 202-347-3190
Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
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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: donate@napawash.org or 202-347-3190
Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com
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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: donate@napawash.org 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: donate@napawash.org 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: donate@napawash.org or 202-347-3190
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Host James-Christian Blockwood interviews Diana Maurer, Director of Defense Capabilities and Management at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, and Kari D'Elia, Chief Product Officer at USAFacts, on managing public institutions amid declining trust and fast-changing information. Both address data gaps honestly and talk about rising distrust of both government and data.

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: donate@napawash.org or 202-347-3190
Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com
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Whether Americans realize it or not, federal oversight and watchdog organizations can be enormously impactful in how the government spends money, makes laws and builds for the future. So why don't more Americans know about the connections between lawmakers and oversight bodies?

Fellow Tim Persons, Principal at PricewaterhouseCoopers and Dan Lips of the Foundation for American Innovation joined James-Christian Blockwood to discuss the importance of oversight and how we should think about the role of Congress in everything from spending to building, for the future and beyond.

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: donate@napawash.org or 202-347-3190
Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com
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James-Christian Blockwood is joined by Michael Keegan, host of The Business of Government Hour and Dave Martin, host of The Good Government Show.

Michael and Dave have interviewed hundreds of public administrators, government workers, and agency heads in their careers, at every level.

What do the best public administrators have in common? Why is storytelling more important to public service workers than it's ever been? And how do we help the best stories find their way to the biggest audiences?

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: donate@napawash.org or 202-347-3190
Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com
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Host James-Christian Blockwood is joined this week by former U.S. Rep. and Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala and Norm Ornstein, emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

Our guests will take a long look at how government is functioning now at the local, state and particularly federal level so that they can make some bold predictions about the future. The next 250 years of American government will require reform, rebuilding and in particular reimagining how to best serve the public.

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: donate@napawash.org 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