Management Matters with James-Christian Blockwood

Latest Episodes:

Big Changes Mean Big Challenges for Shared Services and Government HR with Academy Fellow Brodi Fontenot and OPM's Rebecca Ayers May 18, 2026

Show notes

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.

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Executive Power and Civil Service Reform with Adam White and Clark Kelso May 04, 2026

Show notes

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.

Budgeting is Policy, or How Government is like 'The Matrix' with Teri Gullo and Karl Maschino Apr 20, 2026

Show notes

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.

The GAO High Risk List with Acting Comptroller General Orice Williams Brown and Kimberly Walton Apr 06, 2026

Show notes

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.

Challenges and Innovations in Public Sector Data with Kari D'Elia of USA Facts and Diana Maurer of US GAO Mar 23, 2026

Show notes

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.

Oversight and the Congress, with Fellow Tim Persons of PricewaterhouseCoopers and Dan Lips of The Foundation for American Innovation Mar 09, 2026

Show notes

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.

Why Public Administrators Need to Be Great Storytellers Feb 23, 2026

Show notes

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.

Reforming, Rebuilding, Reimagining: Our American Future with Donna Shalala and Norm Ornstein Feb 09, 2026

Show notes

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.

BONUS: The Elliot L. Richardson Prize for Excellence in Public Service Ceremony featuring Sec. Janet Yellen and Gov. Gary Locke Jan 29, 2026

Show notes

On Wednesday, January 28, the Academy held the presentation of the 2025 Elliot L. Richardson Prize for Excellence in Public Service to Hon. Janet L. Yellen and Hon. Gary F. Locke, featuring a moderated discussion with Jenn White of NPR's 1A. The honorees spoke to a live audience about a range of issues in modern governance, and how their own experiences helped them see what was most important.

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

Efficiency, Oversight, and the Future of the US Government Accountability Office Jan 26, 2026

Show notes

Academy Fellow David Powner, acting managing director for congressional relations at the US Government Accountability Office, joins host James-Christian Blockwood in this week's episode. They get into the details about the importance of GAO's role and the importance of Congress, what oversight can and should be in government, and what's next in the ongoing search for the comptroller general.

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

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