A social scientist examines the role of technology in our lives
Terkadang dalam hidup, perlu mengubah kecepatan dan keadaan pikiran, translates from Indonesian to sometimes in life, you need to change your speed and state of mind.
Military to MITRE: Perspectives of Recently Transitioned Veterans
This article identifies veterans navigating the process of transitioning to civilian employment in an attempt to highlight the struggles and benefits of being a veteran in the civilian workforce.
MITRE Explores Emerging Tech of Interest at SXSW Conference and Hackathon
When one imagines the next source of emerging technologies that could serve MITRE and our government partners, the music and film industries are hardly the first ones that come to mind. However, with the surge of innovation happening outside of government walls, new ideas and emerging technologies can come from anywhere.
Interview with Dan Ward, Rachel Gregorio, and Jessica Yu on MITRE’s Innovation Toolkit
Anyone with experience facing an important challenge or project understands that the job is easier when you have the right tools. The Innovation Toolkit (ITK) is a collection of methods and techniques curated by MITRE experts to help teams be more innovative.
Interview with Tammy Freeman on Redefining Innovation
Tammy Freeman is a Business Process Innovation consultant at MITRE. Her work focuses on bringing novel solutions to MITRE sponsors by helping them redefine how they understand Innovation.
Getting the Most Out of Your Failures
A few days ago, I was taking an exercise class at the gym. The highly motivational instructor often tells the class, “Your goal tonight is to fail! If you get to the point that you can’t do the exercise or lift your weight, then you have achieved your goal of muscle failure!” It got me thinking…
Bot Power at Discover Engineering Family Day
What child can resist the challenge of building a tiny robot (or “bot”) using the head of a toothbrush, a button battery, and a pager motor?
Interview with Dr. Sanith Wijesinghe on Agile Connected Government
Welcome to the first installment of the Knowledge-Driven Podcast. In this new series, Software Systems Engineer Cameron Boozarjomehri interviews technical leaders at MITRE who have made knowledge sharing and collaboration an integral part of their practice.
Changing Organizations Using the Power of Localism
For the past 25 years, writers and scholars have consistently asserted that 70% of organizational change efforts fail (e.g., Ashkenas, 2013). For those of us who have devoted much of our energy to helping organizations adopt innovation and improve performance, it is discouraging to see the same failure rates quoted year after year.
The Emerging Technology Student Program’s New Frontier
The Emerging Technologies program is now a major undertaking for MITRE. It draws upon contributions from staff at all levels of the company, including many who were not mentors or student investigators.
An Inclusion Habit Encourages Awareness and Enables Psychological Safety
Starbucks and Google are just two of the many organizations that have pursued active inclusion and diversity practices with expected business benefits. Evidence that fostering an inclusive workplace has value for an organization and its employees comes from research that highlights the positive and negative consequences of inclusion and diversity.
The Lunch and Learn is not the Solution to Everything
Once every few months, I find myself in a meeting where a problem has just been solved and now some sort of action is needed to put a solution in place. My initial excitement about making real progress is often dampened when a meeting participant offers the suggestion…
Naming the Elephant in the Room
You may remember the childhood party game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey (or Bunny or Pig—depending on the party theme), where dizzy, blindfolded partygoers are challenged to position a paper tail closest to the correct location…
Communication—the Special Sauce of Major Change
MITRE loves data. MITRE practitioners are passionate about solving problems using scientific evidence, and this is just as true for social scientists at MITRE as it is for engineers. Here is how MITRE practitioners use data to ensure that our recommendations on strategic communication have the greatest possible impact.
Consolidating Embedded Systems Security Through Education, Competition, and Business
Chances are, you’ve interacted with an embedded system today. Did you use a thermostat? How about a car? Or maybe a mobile phone? Or a television, a game console, an elevator, a train, a pacemaker?…
A Spin Around the Blockchain—Exploring Future Government Applications
Blockchain has essentially created a new type of internet in which information can be widely distributed without relying on traditional centralized architectures…
Applying Design Thinking to Boost Federal Agency Problem Solving
Our world and workplace are increasingly being aided by artificial intelligence, from personal assistants like Alexa to robots working on assembly lines. But, in most cases, people’s needs must remain front and center if…
Acquisition in the Digital Age (AiDA™): A Game Changer in Federal Acquisition
Federal acquisition is easy and straightforward, said no one ever. Rules, regulations, policies, procedures, definitions, requirements, contracts, forms—constantly updated …
Managing Innovative Ideas for Problems of National Importance
The Patient Toolkit is a mobile application that helps chronically ill patients and their caregivers better manage their illness …
Can We Refrain from Jingle Fallacies for a Minuet?
Intellectually, rationally, we know that the people with whom we speak don’t always understand us and that ascribing fault is counterproductive…