Mythbusters are in Government — and it’s not just a TV show!
I had the pleasure of joining colleagues and friends at the AFFIRM luncheon today where we heard Daniel Gordon, Administrator, Office of Federal Procurement Policy, Office of Management and Budget candidly talk about his priorities and a few myths they are trying to overcome. (Sidenote: if you get the chance to talk to him, ask him about the day/evening he was confirmed)
At OFPP, they are focusing on these three things:
- Strengthening the Acquisition Workforce
- Enhancing their Fiscal Responsibility = Spending Less and Buying Smarter
- Re-balancing the Relationship between Government and Industry/Contractors
While Mr. Gordon went into more detail about each of these priorities, there was one common theme: COMMUNICATION. Without communication none of these priorities can be accomplished. To strengthen the workforce you have to communicate internally, to buy smarter and spend less government needs to communicate what they clearly need and to strengthen or re-balance the relationship between government and industry, like any relationship, they have to communicate with one another.
In order to allow for all of these various conversations to take place, Mr. Gordon and his office have become mythbusters. They have heard on (sadly) too many occasions these myths “I can’t meet vendors one-on-one”, “I went with this contract (even though it was more money and not totally ideal) because I knew someone on another contract” or “it has always been done that way, so I just thought that’s how it should be done”. Though, this is going to be a cultural change for the contracting officers, contracting officers technical representatives and their industry counterparts it is a mental barrier that needs to be broken.
What myths would you like to see busted?
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If you liked this post, check out the Acquisition 2.0 GovLoop Group, AFFIRM (a non-profit, volunteer, educational organization) and ACT-IAC’s Better Government IT Site where you can insert myths, ideas to improve communication and vote on ideas you like that have already been submitted.