Confessions of a Civil Servant

Bob Stone is a partner with the Public Strategies Group, a small consulting firm that advises governments around the world that seek to provide effective and efficient services to its citizens. During a 30-year career as a civil servant, Stone started a quality revolution at the Pentagon and later formed and led Al Gore's National Performance Review team at the White House.

• Chapter 1 Introduction: On Government ServiceChapter 2 Brazen Chariots, Brazen Analysts: Tackling a job when you haven't a clueChapter 3 A Little Yellow Book: Shrinking regulationsChapter 4 Red Hats, Red Scarves, Red Tails: Organizing for the missionChapter 5 Searching for Excellence: Turning an organization aroundChapter 6 Snakes and Snakebusters: Dealing with difficult bossesChapter 7 Getting to Reinvention: Seizing the chance of a lifetimeChapter 8 Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Work We Go: Assembling a team for a big new jobChapter 9 It's September 7th, Stupid!: Getting a big job done in a hurryChapter 10 Setting a Thousand Fires and Fanning the Flames: Encouraging and protecting innovatorsChapter 11 The Decline and Fall of a Great Group: Moving from leadership to managementChapter 12 To Compliance and Beyond: Strengthening the regulatory processChapter 13 Jean Slams the Door: Facing up to unpleasant dutiesChapter 14 Junkyard Dogs: Avoiding Inspector generalsChapter 15 Overcoming Success: Getting past the barriers to changeChapter 16 Ten Lessons in LeadershipChapter 17 Ciao, Mommy. That Means Goodbye

Stone shares interesting and often entertaining anecdotes about his long career in government, during which be became known as the 'Energizer-in-Chief' for his efforts to help the military and civilian agencies run more efficiently. Stone explains how he overcame challenges in his own career and ends each chapter with a section listing several lessons learned.