Innovation in Government Business

Latest Episodes:

DoD's Most Important Innovation May 25, 2022

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In this podcast episode, Rick Dunn, former DARPA General Counsel, addresses the 2022 Breakthrough Energetics Conference highlighting the most critical innovation the DoD can focus its energies on is business process reform already supported by policies and mandates. This is the innovation in which delivering all other innovations efficiently, effectively, and affordably rely.

Is DoD Acquisition Leadership above the Law? May 18, 2022

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“Rules for thee but not for me.” – DoD

The Department of Defense acquisition system can be defined by its separateness. It is a whole universe unto itself, walled off and apart from the rest of industry and the ways other organizations work. In a similar vein, when Congress passes a law on citizens and corporations they are expected to comply, with threat of punishment. However, DoD acquisition leaders seemingly simply ignore laws that they don’t like without any worry of being held accountable. Are they above the law? It looks that way.

Congress continues to boost the power and potential for using flexible “commercial-like” contracts, Other Transactions (OT) and related authorities, that are superior for engaging and doing the business of R&D, which the DoD desperately needs. Yet, DoD remains committed to thinking and a system that failed some time ago - a highly regulated purchasing system completely ill-suited for the mission of R&D. According to former USD R/E, Mike Griffin, the system survives on tremendous “waste.” To keep pace with its near-peers and now peers, DoD needs a big change. Congress has directed the DoD to ensure ‘management, technical and contracting’ personnel get educated to make the best use of the authorities, that leads to the virtuous cycle of student turning into teacher, growing a community, and learning and expanding ideas by doing. The only way. Despite all the rhetoric to the contrary, meaningful OT education, therefore the workforce, is not being supported. DoD acquisition leaders say they want more effective, streamlined, and outsider friendly approaches to doing business for delivering new capability faster, but their actions do not match. They resist, even undermine, the generous hard fought for authorities created to do what they all say they want and more.

Why? Who knows, it could be egos or wanting notoriety for the new thing, over doing the next right thing, as the recently resigned Air Force Chief Architect suggested. Maybe it is “entrenched interests” like Professor Steve Blank said. Maybe it’s all the ridiculous amount of fear, myth, lore, and superstition that runs amuck in the DoD in lieu of empowerment, education and training.

For 30 years Other Transactions authorities have been misunderstood, they have been resisted, and subverted by business-as-usual. Congress directed DoD leadership 4.5 years ago to support the workforce and new ways of getting capabilities to the warfighter, by ensuring they have the tools, structure, and education they need to thrive in a completely different environment, so that we all may realize the benefits. Education should not be seen as a threat; it should only be viewed as an opportunity.
For the article this episode was based off of: https://strategicinstitute.org/other-transactions/appropriate-contractual-instruments-for-rd/

DoD prioritizing COST over Value and Affordability May 11, 2022

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The defense acquisition system prioritizes cost in its business transactions to the point of making the entire system unaffordable.
In this episode Strategic Institute discusses the difference between 'cost' and 'value', and the real cost of all this focus on price tags. The DoD by-and-large engages in the rudimentary business of procurement, establishing a buyer/seller relationship and pricing, and when that won't do it incentivizes incurring cost through reimbursement contracting. These otherwise basic business arrangements are made overly-complicated by a burdensome bureaucratic, compliance framework, that at least when it comes to R&D and delivering new capability, adds little or no value and hinders much.
Affordability and value are sacrificed for one of the worst four letter words in business - COST!
It is time to take the training wheels off! The federal workforce, with leadership support, can engage successfully in sophisticated business that factors in value and long term affordability.

Taking a Whooping! A Critical Look at the State of Small Businesses in the Defense Industrial-base May 03, 2022

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In this podcast episode Strategic Institute's Founder, Rick Dunn talks with Amanda Bresler and Alex Bresler with PW Communications about their latest research - Analyzing the Composition of the Defense Small Business Industrial Base.
The findings are eye-opening as the stated goals of many small business policies and programs are not being served. Small business programs attempt to make up for an inherent lack of fairness of an overly-bureaucratic, highly-regulated system that grew into a monster over time. Now it so arcane that nobody can really make sense of it it all. Yet, having a fuller awareness will result in better solutions. The defense acquisition (innovation) community needs to face its problems head on, and use the tools and resources provided to create positive change - real innovation.
For more information
guests:
PW Communications: https://www.pwcommunications.com/
host:
Strategic Institute: https://strategicinstitute.org/

Sabotaging Innovation - Using a Procurement System for R&D Apr 27, 2022

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In this episode Strategic Institute talks about DoD's continued reliance on a procurement system for R&D and advancing new capability.
"When the only tool you use is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail."
The DoD habitually uses the wrong contractual instrument to achieve its stated goals for the important work of advancing knowledge and delivering new capability to the field. The Federal Acquisition Regulations-based procurement system forces a buyer/seller relationship. However, the business and desired outcomes of R&D are very different from purchasing stuff and services. For at least three decades, some of our Nation's brightest minds and experts have indicated the need for the use of flexible "commercial-like" contracts and business arrangements by empowered and protected teams to better support objectives and improve outcomes for R&D, prototyping, and most importantly getting new capability into the war-fighters hands. Performance has gotten so bad for the ancient and beleaguered procurement system, that several years ago Congress mandated that DoD develop a 'preference' for using flexible contracts and business arrangements, and went on to mandate that 'management, technical and contracting' personnel get spun up. While DoD has expanded its use of flexible contracting authorities, they remain limited by the framework and understanding of the existing system, and education is virtually non-existent. Unfortunately the mandated flexible contracting authorities are viewed through the lenses of the current procurement system. By and large, minus a few bright spots, no significant change in acquisition for R&D has occurred, though the need becomes more dire with every passing day. Our near peers are catching up, have caught up, or are passing us by. This seems like a red alert, all hands on deck situation, yet the response has been confusion and inaction.
This is a straightforward fix: use the correct contractual instruments for the mission. The use of Other Transactions Agreements for R&D have been mandated by Congress, have been specifically created for R&D, and ARE the correct contractual instruments.
Related article: Appropriate Contractual Instruments for R&D: https://strategicinstitute.org/other-transactions/appropriate-contractual-instruments-for-rd/

Innovative People Do Not Use the Word "Innovation" Apr 20, 2022

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In this episode the Strategic Institute team talks about "innovation," a buzz term that has become ubiquitous in the federal government. Using an article as a basis of discussion, the team relates and connects it to Other Transactions authorities and federal government acquisition.
Article: Stop Saying Innovation - Here's Why - by author Scott Berkun
"People with good ideas and who do good work solve problems. They let their ideas be defined by the importance of the problems their ideas solve. It’s the solving of the problem that gives ideas power, not an adjective slapped onto PowerPoint slides or into job titles.

Great teams know this and drop pretense in favor of simple words like prototype, experiment, problem, solution, user, customer, lesson and design. Simpler language accelerates progress. Inflated language slows it down and confuses people. Calling yourself tall doesn’t make you tall. A word is just a word. It’s your actions that matter, not the labels you use."
For the full article: https://scottberkun.com/2008/stop-saying-innovation-heres-why/
For more on Other Transactions and other federal government flexible contracting authorities purposefully created to support and facilitate true innovation, visit: https://strategicinstitute.org/

Why the DoD Acquisition System is Stuck Apr 13, 2022

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Join Strategic Institute in discussing why the defense acquisition system for R&D and delivering new capabilities is persistently stuck in first gear and getting passed by on the rapid 21st century highway.
The DoD once had a functional acquisition system capable of expediency and creativity, i.e. going to the Moon in less than a decade, producing a nuclear bomb just six years after splitting the atom (totally new technologies). Today the system requires tremendous resources and legions of industry specialists and insiders who spend years learning the ins-and-outs of a system that defines - arcane. Now it takes nearly a quarter century just to deliver the next-gen of something. This, despite many advances in efficiency enhancing technologies in the intervening years (i.e. computing, communications, simulations etc.). The bureaucracy and special interests have had their way with the defense acquisition system; it just grew to become the albatross it is today.
Hard fought for flexible acquisition authorities allowing the government to operate at a much high caliber have been expanded, codified, and even mandated, but they are being ignored or worse. DoD's inefficiencies and problems are an inside job, the change many say they wish to see needs to be embodied and emboldened by good leadership.
Related Podcast: Is the Traditional DoD Acquisition System Institutionally Corrupt?
https://strategicinstitute.org/other-transactions/dod-acquisition-institutionally-corrupt/

How Do I Do an Other Transactions Agreement? Apr 06, 2022

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In this episode Strategic Institute discusses the most common question we hear from federal contracting personnel... How do I do an OT? Unlike the traditional system based on the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), Other Transactions have no plug-n-play option, there is no cut-n-paste and that's the point. OTs are FAR out, and OTs make you think. OTs are flexible contracts that allow for a variety of (different and exciting) acquisition approaches. This is based on business excellence; approach programs and projects on an individual basis and develop the best strategy to accomplish mission goals. Therefore cutting and pasting, and mindlessly throwing unnecessary clauses into contracts should be shunned by program teams. This is a major sticking point, as most contracting personnel schooled in the traditional system, where their main priority is to ensure compliance, can find it impossible at times to operate in a 'freedom of contract' environment. So difficult is this task for some, that OTs purposefully do not require a warranted Contracting Officer, instead, at least in some cases, they favor (encourage) program managers (program teams) with the assistance of legal personnel to obligate the government, instead of relying and waiting on contracting office.
"It is difficult to get a person to understand something which their salary depends on not understanding it." - Upton Sinclair
While there are no fill-in-the-blank options for OTs, there are many lessons learned, templates, education, and even a small, but growing, community of practice in which to share information.
For more information visit the #1 resource for OT education and thought: strategicinstitute.org

(mal)Adaptive Acquisition Framework Mar 30, 2022

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In effort to fix the critically serious and empirically known problems that has plagued DoD acquisition for R&D and delivering new capability for decades, the DoD unveiled The Adaptive Acquisition Framework as a remedy. However, the graphic representation of the framework clearly shows that all acquisition pathways lead back to the same place, the traditional acquisition system, while obfuscating the alternatives. What it shows more than anything else, is that a problem cannot be solved with the same thinking that created it. The 'framework' IS the traditional system. It seeks to overlay alternative and innovative ways of contracting and doing business with the dysfunctional system. The (mal)Adaptive Acquisition Framework does more to constrict thinking than it does to expand.
One glaring example is no mention of Other Transactions for Middle -Tier Acquisition birthed the same year in the same statute where Congress mandated 'preferential' use and education of these authorities. This is an example of the inability to conceptually make connections and understand what the whole looks like, or perhaps it is further evidence of institutional corruption. Whether it be ignorance, apathy, or antipathy, DoD is going out of the way to ignore the generous solutions and expert recommendations in order to stay the course and continue with business as usual.
“It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage, than creation of a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institutions and merely lukewarm defenders in those who would gain by the new ones.” – Niccolo Machiavelli (1513)
For more information on Other Transactions and to join the revolution in Federal acquisition for R&D and new capability, visit: https://strategicinstitute.org/

Private Sector Funding for Federal R&D & New Capability Mar 23, 2022

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In this episode Strategic Institute discusses why private sector funding of government R&D and in the development of new capability is not only permissible using Other Transactions but also why it makes a lot of sense. With so many dollars (debt) being created out of thin air, funneling their way into asset classes across the board, does it really makes sense for taxpayers to take on all the risk and be on the hook to fully fund programs that could be funded by other parties with greater interest? Private sector money is desperately searching for investment and yield more than ever. Government dual-use and other programs can be highly attractive for investment, if the government can be a good business partner. Given how accepting outside funding and resources can jump start early innovation and help bridge "the valley of death", why has DoD and other agencies failed to figure out how to accomplish, what is otherwise common sense (and common place) business practices? At some point, affordability will become an issue. The exploration of business practices that encourage affordability, along with greater speed and better solutions seem like a no-brainer.

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