America's Workplace Is Broken, and It’s Harming Our Security
In the lead-up to Super Bowl LV, Detroit’s own General Motors released a highly-produced homage to the American competitive spirit. The ad features Will Ferrell in flannel and a t-shirt,…
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Flexibility Alone Won't Fix Our Toxic Culture
Negotiating the pandemic with a chronic illness has presented its own set of unique challenges — chief among them the mental strain of knowing that a COVID infection is much more likely to…
The Future of Work Is Leaving National Security Behind
It’s often said that government work isn’t glamorous. But pre-pandemic government work in the national security realm was at least one step beyond. Back in the before times, tens of…
We Still Can’t Do It All
May 6, 2020 made me realize that the strict wall I’d erected between my professional research and my home life had crumbled. I awoke to see “Rape During Civil War” on my nightstand. I…
Did The Pandemic Make Us Better People?
Over the past year, at considerable cost, we’ve learned to live with the virus. With the arrival of vaccines and their competent distribution, the US finally appears to be bending the…
Preparing For Gen Z To Enter the National Security Community
It has been a year — said in that typical Gen X way. Fifty-two weeks, give or take, since the old reality abruptly halted for a new one. Habitual routines shifted to make new routines —…
Don’t Confuse 'Making It Work' with 'Working'
Cast in one light, the past year has been a triumph of technology and human ingenuity. We have collectively proven society can still function — money can be made, national security can be…
Can Teleworking Be Done In the National Security Environment?
Can the national security workforce telework? Those who have worked in classified spaces have been unable to telework due to the sensitivities of their work. The defense and intelligence…
An Atomized Professional Community Still Needs Coffee Breaks
Can you have a professional identity without a local professional community? I’ve been trying to work out the answer to that question since mid-2019, when I quit my day job in London and…
A Year of Working Intentionally
As we pass this hard-to-fathom milestone of one year out of the office due to COVID-19, we will no doubt read many pieces on Zoom fatigue and pandemic fatigue and desires for return to a…