By: Harlan Wax, HYOD Enterprises
"Twenty thousand people with one year's experience are not the same as 1,000 people with 20 years' experience, you need people with scar tissue." Norm Augustine
It has been perturbing to me, after 29 years in this industry, to see yet again more cries for acquisition reform in terms of new legislation and new regulations as well as more oversight and transparency. It's never made sense to me that things get better by watching them, it always seems like you need to get your hands dirty, apply some thought and muscle, and then step back to look at how it's working. That doesn't mean everyone should just try to fix it, as Mr. Augustine stated above, "you need people with scar tissue." Let the people who have been doing the job identify what can be done to improve the results, supposedly that it the "system approach" to business that is being touted today.
The industry group Business Executives for National Security (BENS) submitted its report to the Government as what it sees as the critical components for acquisition reform. BENS is comprised of individuals with significant credentials leading industry, participating in Government and focused on the soundness and safety of the United States of America and its citizenship. The report is complete, concise and realistic in its assessment and recommendations. It is based on the three legs of the stool providing a secure position for reform and improvement:
Requirements
Personnel
Execution
It is not a thesis on the need to make changes in legislation or reconfigure the socio-economic programs or other nuansical elements of federal procurement of which the layman is not aware. It speaks to one thing - the practice. If anything the overarching term I would take away from it is "planning". My personal and professional background has proven to me that planning is essential for success and that is what this reports speaks to. The need is for people or organizations to effectively address all the elements of the plan, identify specifically the current and prospective needs, get the proper or orient the existing resources so that there is an understanding and capability to perform the tasks, and be prepared to implement measures as well as make corrective adjustments as you proceed done the path to the objective.
Don't let legislators, two-three times removed from the practice of Defense or Acquisition dictate what needs to be done - Pope Julius may have berated Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel but he didn't tell him what colors to use.
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