This weekend someone emailed me a copy of an article from Time magazine about how local communities are not letting the dysfunction of Washington, DC politics stop them from making progress. I live in Washington, DC, so sometimes it is hard to see beyond CSPAN and the news in the Washington Post. It seems like politics have brought the USA to a standstill, where a supermajority is now required for any basic vote in congress. I've been lucky enough over the past year to have two clients in the same region represent this "Pragmatic Caucus" that was described by Bruce Katz and Judith Rodin.

Now that the lockout is officially over, the amount of conversations revolving around football has picked up significantly. Football is something that I enjoy very much and like talking about whenever I get the chance. As a consultant, I also enjoy conversations centered on strategic management and the excitement that comes with each client. Over the weekend, I was talking to a friend about my job and, as most conversations between two, twenty-four year old males do, the topic eventually turned to football. In some odd way, this got me thinking about the similarities between football and strategic management. I know, a weird comparison, but stick with me and I think you will see where these thoughts came from.

On March 7, Ascendant, along with the DC Public Schools and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, hosted an event titled Managing for Performance. The event has over 60 professionals representing over 20 schools coming together to talk about performance management in education.

"The Goal" by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt, is a best-seller in the management sphere and directly relates to an organization's understanding of its own Balanced Scorecard. One interesting thing about "The Goal" is that it's actually a novel – you might even call it a "business thriller." Although it explores in-depth academic theories, it does so via an engaging fictional story.