Ascendant Strategy Management Group is pleased to announce its first annual Excellence in Mission-Driven Management Grant Competition. This competition will award a $2000 grant to the organization that best demonstrates how they utilized strategy & performance management principles to overcome a challenge and achieve their mission.

"Since our founding in 2008, we have been working to help social and public sector organizations execute their missions," said Ted Jackson, Ascendant Managing Partner. "With this grant challenge, we hope to reward one such organization for executing its mission and achieving breakthrough results."

The end of the year is quickly approaching and, for many organizations, this means the time for employee performance reviews. However, a recent Wall Street Journal article (WSJ-Performance Reviews Lose Steam) reported that some, about 1%, of organizations are getting rid of a formal review process due to its ineffectiveness to motivate, and the anxiety it causes among the employees. The article cited an academic review of more than 600 employee-feedback studies, and found that two-thirds of appraisals had zero or even negative effects on employee performance after the feedback was given.

I think I am like most people in that I use some of my holiday season downtime to catch up on leisure reading I haven't had the opportunity to get to over the previous months. So, when I found myself flipping through my latest issue of the Defense Acquisition Research Journal (DARJ), I was pleasantly surprised to see an article titled "Motivating the Knowledge Worker," by the Defense Intelligence Agency's (DIA) Dr. David E. Frick.

The title immediately drew me to the article because it is the same topic Dan Pink will be discussing at Ascendant's Mission-Driven Management Summit (MDMS), March 6-8, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

As the year winds down and we get ready to celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa, I wanted to take a moment to stop and thank the people who we've been fortunate to work with over the past year. The work that our clients do on a daily basis is both incredible and inspirational, and we're incredibly fortunate to play a small role in helping them advance their mission.

Earlier on this blog we discussed the keys to successful implementation of a government Balanced Scorecard. Leadership, communication and stakeholder engagement are the keys to success. A major challenge, however, is finding the right measures for your government Balanced Scorecard. It is important to find measures appropriate for the level of government, measures that can illustrate cause and effect linkages and those that can drive action at the right level.

Attention all Facebook, Twitter, and Newswire marketing experts...

GovLoop hosts a great tool for comparing publicity, engagement, and social media interactions for a range of departments and agencies like the Peace Corps, the US Marines, the Center for Disease Control, Federal Reserve Banks, the Security and Exchange Commission, and many more.

An screenshot of the dashboard is posted here on our blog in addition to links back to the full site.

What's your take? Anything surprising? How does your agency fare?

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14, 2011 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Ascendant Strategy Management Group today announced the launch of its "Shoot. Post. Win." Facebook video contest for national nonprofit leaders in anticipation of the 2012 Mission-Driven Management Summit in Washington D.C. Contestants can upload video submissions to the Mission-Driven Management Summit Facebook page until February 1, 2012.

Why do you want to go to the Mission-Driven Summit this year? Ascendant wants to know, and in return, we're awarding two FREE all-access passes to MDMS 2012. All you need to do is shoot, edit, and post a video to our Facebook page that says why YOU should be the attend MDMS 2012.

Can a government use a Balanced Scorecard? Is a national government too expansive to have a strategy? Is a state or provincial government to complex? Is a city government too tactically focused? The answer to all of the above is no. A government can very effectively use the Balanced Scorecard. Many have done so with great success: Brazil, Singapore, Maryland, Washington, Durham, Charlotte to name just a few. What are they keys to success? Leadership commitment, constant communication and engagement of stakeholders are the keys to successful strategy execution with a Balanced Scorecard.

Today the Wall Street Journal dedicated the Journal Report (section R) to nonprofit organizations. There are a lot of good articles about fundraising and joining a board, but the headliner, or attention grabbing article, is about "operating like a business." The overall question is whether donors should be looking for a return on their investment, similar to businesses? I think this is the wrong question.