As ICMA's Center for Management Strategies Director, Cheryl Hilvert, mentioned in her blog post a few weeks ago, the "official launch" of the new Center is taking place at the Annual ICMA conference in Phoenix. To help kick-off the "official launch," postings last week and this week focused on the first two leading practices: Fiscal Health and Wellness through Priority Based Budgeting, and the High Performing Organization (HPO) model with the Commonwealth Center for High-Performance Organizations, Inc. (CCHPO).

John Pickering, Tony Gardner, Gerry Brokaw, Kay Hudson, Tom Ward and I are looking forward to the strategic partnering opportunities that will be generated by the Center for Management Strategies (CMS) and have already been energized by the activities surrounding getting CMS 'launched' and 'up and running.' We're excited to be partnering with the Center for Priority-Based Budgeting and see tremendous opportunities in combining our approaches to benefit interested clients, as well as learning new practices that will enhance performance improvement efforts.

In an interesting twist on the link between 'work culture' and organizational performance, Gerry Brokaw and I had a chance to visit a new (to us) organization this week in the Albany, NY area and were struck with the tremendous work this organization was doing in fostering research & technolgy development work that could positiviely impact a number of local communities in New York state, even in these challenging times. This meeting was also the only time in our experience that an organization had both a round conference table and a round conference meeting room. We knew we were in a 'kindred' place as we held initial conversations around this round table and talked through 'leadership philosophy' beliefs / impacts, potential strategic thinking efforts and our fascination with 'circles' as a non-hierarchical organization cultural symbol. The round table got us talking about what other inadvertent (or deliberate) messages we symbolically send in so many ways and how these (think reserved parking spaces, lack of team based meeting rooms, etc.) reinforce a particular mindset. As you look around your organizations, what kind of symbols might be in place in your organization sending mixed signals?

As Chris Fabian invited a couple of weeks ago, "Jump in and join the conversation! Please contribute your questions in the comments section of this post, and/or send them directly to Cheryl Hilvert, Director of the Center for Management Strategies at chilvert@icma.org." We look forward to the stimulating conversations that we know will be coming through various connections.

As a reminder, the 2012 ICMA Annual Conference The following educational sessions, workshops and forums are being offered by the Center and/or its partners on its leading practice areas:

Fiscal Distress

 Saturday, October  6, 8:00AM-12:00PM

 Communities today struggle to develop meaningful and  fiscally prudent budgets under financial pressures previously unknown. Most  organizations believe that the responses they have made to the current financial  crisis represent a permanent change in the way they will approach their  budgeting processes. This session will explore innovative and proven tools and  techniques needed to achieve both short-term relief and long-term sustainability  through a unique and creative process called priority-based budgeting.  Traditional responses such as across-the-board cuts, tax increases, sales of  assets, pay freezes, and furloughs have not provided adequate solutions to  address an organization's fiscal distress, but the question remains: what is the  solution? This session will discuss how local governments across the country  have turned to priority-based budgeting to help align budgets and resources with  the goals of their communities. This holistic approach to better inform budget  decisions will ensure that a community identifies and preserves those programs  and services that are highly valued and makes budget decisions in accordance  with its findings. Priority-based budgeting has already helped 30 local  governments from coast to coast deal with their fiscal realities through a  step-by-step process that clearly aligns an organization's goals with the way it  allocates its resources. This process was described in a 2010 Government Finance  Officers Association white paper, "Anatomy of a Priority-Based Budget Process."  This session will present case studies from Chandler, Arizona; Boulder,  Colorado; Christiansburg, Virginia; Douglas County, Nevada; Grand Island,  Nebraska; and Monterey, San José, and Walnut Creek in California, to illustrate  how the process has been successfully used to address a community's unique  budgetary issues.Practice Groups 10 (Budgeting) and 11 (Financial  Analysis) 4 AICP-CM credits.

Workshop Leaders: Chris Fabian and Jon  Johnson, Cofounders, Center for Priority-Based Budgeting, Denver, Colorado

Moving Your Organization toward Higher Performance

 Saturday, October  6, 8:00AM-12:00PM

 Saturday, October  6, 1:00PM-5:00PM

Regardless of the size or location of our  organizations, we are all challenged by the same types of issues: increased  demands for services, reduced revenues, negative perceptions of government, and  disengaged workers. This workshop will challenge you to think differently about  how your organization can work. Key concepts of the High-Performance  Organization Model to be discussed are "Developing the New Government Employee,"  "Doing the Work of Leadership at All Levels of the Organization," "Deciding Your  Leadership Philosophy," "Focusing on Both the Vision and the Culture of Your  Organization," and "Building Capacity through Employee Teams." The program will  afford participants opportunities for small group discussion and encourage  thinking about next steps for moving their organizations toward higher  performance. Practice Groups 1 (Staff Effectiveness) and 6 (Initiative, Risk  Taking, Vision, Creativity, and Innovation) 4 AICP-CM credits

Workshop  Leaders: Anton Gardner, leadership development faculty, University of  Virginia-Cooper Center for Public Service, Charlottesville, Virginia; Cheryl  Hilvert, director, Center for Management Strategies, ICMA, Washington, D.C.; and  John Pickering, president, Commonwealth Center for High Performance  Organizations, Inc., Charlottesville, Virginia