I have one really practical idea, related to Federal procurement, for helping to reduce the Federal Deficit – write better Requests for Proposals (RFPs)!  Poorly written RFPs ultimately cost the government billions of dollars each year in failed/failing projects. This is due, in part, to the fact that poorly written RFPs lack specific details and clarity in describing the actual needs of the government. There are a number of  reasons for poorly written RFP’s , and while many may be  understandable,  too often the end result is significant and unnecessary costs to  taxpayers in the form of both  failed/failing projects and inefficiencies that are generated as a result.  A couple of thoughts:

1.      Federal contractors (at least the quality/professional ones) love well-written RFPs – primarily because well-written requirement documents (RFPs) encourage comprehensive solutions expressed in well-written proposal responses.  Conversely it is difficult to respond to poorly written requirements because the response usually entails a “guess” as to what the specific requirements really are, or less than complete solutions because the RFP-stated requirements have significant “gaps”.  Well-written RFPs afford highly capable and professional contractors the opportunity to describe their solution to the government with the full expression of capabilities and best practices they bring to bear in meeting the specific needs of the government.   

2.      Alternatively, poorly written requirements with vague/subjective evaluation criteria can work against a more fully qualified vendor and open the door for less qualified/capable vendors. Proposal responses to well-written RFPs significantly aid government source selection boards in assessing and selecting the truly the low risk/high value solutions that meet the governments specific requirements.

It is not my intent to over simplify the problem and in truth, a lot of good things have occurred/are occurring in government procurement, but at the most basic level, if the government wants to reduce the Federal deficit and  create efficiencies – just write better RFPs.    

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