New Year, New Approach

Longtime readers of Government Executive will notice some subtle but significant changes starting with this issue. For almost 45 years, we’ve undertaken it as our mission to provide news and information to federal managers about what is happening in the executive branch and how their peers are tackling key challenges.

As time has gone on, the news part of that equation has become much less important in a print publication. That’s been especially true for us since the launch of GovExec.com in 1996. Now, specialized news for federal managers has become primarily an online experience, on everything from desktop computers to tablets to smartphones. (Shameless plug: Check out the GovExec app in either the iPhone App Store or on Google Play if you’re on the Android system.)   

Gradually, the print experience has become more distinct—and in our case, more focused on ideas, innovations and emerging trends in federal management. Starting with this issue, we’re making that distinction more explicit. Each of the six issues of the magazine this year will center around a deep exploration of a single theme in multiple articles in the main section. In this issue that theme is mission-driven government.

The new emphasis on ideas and best practices carries through to the rest of the magazine, too. For example, in a new column, “The Adviser,” Jackson Nickerson, an award-winning researcher and teacher who specializes in leadership and innovation, will take questions from readers about the day-to-day challenges they face in managing agencies and programs. Our Briefing section in the front of the magazine and the Analysis pieces in the back will be more focused on how innovations and ideas are being put into practice.

It’s all part of the ongoing evolution of Government Executive in a direction that we hope better serves the people who make the government work.