CAREER CORNER USAASC PERSPECTIVE FROM THE DIRECTOR , U. S . A RMY ACQUISITION SUPPORT CENTER
CONTINUOUS PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT is the NAME of the GAME
“Everything we do, every process we adopt and every organizational adjustment we make serves a single purpose: get our Soldiers to the fight; provide discriminatory advantage to our Soldiers; and enable our Soldiers to return home safely.”
—Te Hon. Heidi Shyu, Army acquisition executive, Virtual Town Hall, July 11, 2011 T
he Army acquisition enterprise faces many challenges, from fiscal constraints to poten- tially broad budget cuts, not
to mention ever-changing and increasing congressional demands and expectations. To reach mission objectives in this envi- ronment, we need to not accept the status quo, but to seek constantly to refine our processes and procedures. Ms. Shyu has provided the central focus and priority for all our decision-making and actions. Tat means all of us must adopt a culture of continuous performance improvement (CPI) in every aspect of how we do busi- ness. CPI is about seeking affordability and efficiencies at every level of an orga- nization. It’s a management process that is not solely executed by management.
Our new resource-constrained environ- ment has increased expectations in the management of performance and has increased the need to create efficiencies and report return on investment. CPI provides a framework to identify and understand opportunities and potential issues, in order to recognize solutions and implement improvements to stay aligned
164
Have a plan: Te first assess your current state,
step is to then make
a plan for where you want to go. A successful plan includes your
strengths, weaknesses,
identifying oppor-
tunities and threats (SWOT), and establishing your intended goal.
Craig A. Spisak Director, U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center
with increased needs and expectations. (See Figure 1.)
TIPS FOR ENACTING CPI To truly change the culture, everyone at every level of the enterprise must be active in CPI efforts. But, as with most things in life,
too much of a good thing can
sometimes lead to unpleasant outcomes. Change is good, but changing for
the
sake of change can lead to frustration and unproductive behaviors.
Te following tips are ways you can inte- grate CPI into everything you do:
Have a vision and set “stretch” goals: Expand
your imagination, insight
perspective and
conditions
through boldness.
Force yourself to see beyond the pres- ent environment,
and
Te SWOT analysis helps you to deter- mine strengths, or things you excel at, skills, abilities, assets, etc.; weak- nesses, or things you’re not so good at or need but don’t have; opportuni- ties, such as to broaden skills or form potential partnerships; and threats, such as environment shifts, changing expectations or furloughs. Focus your efforts on your strengths versus your weaknesses. Tis may sound contradic- tory to CPI, but it’s not. Knowing the things that set you apart may increase your morale, boost confidence and ignite a desire to achieve even more.
Army AL&T Magazine
January–March 2014
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