FORMING NEW ALLIANCES


Lisha Adams, executive deputy to AMC’s commanding general (CG), and John Lyle, deputy to the CG of the U.S. Army Contracting Command (ACC), field questions during an October 2016 forum on contracting and acquisition. Lyle moderated the panel, which also included representatives from industry and other federal organizations. Hallock and the other members of the 809 Panel recommend forming partnerships among these groups to share ideas about a better way of generating requirements, with a focus on outcomes over process. (Photo by Giselle Lyons, ACC)


require less internal oversight. Sounds simple, but to make such changes effec- tive, acquisition leaders at all levels must create a culture that pushes back against the risk avoidance that our current work- force seems


to embrace. Tat mindset


stifles the creativity and innovation that Congress has asked us


to accomplish,


notwithstanding lawmakers’ complicity in the status quo. Instead, we need to encourage our younger, less experienced workforce to assume planned risk and ensure the flexibility necessary for truly agile, innovative contracting to take root.


Tis means we must allow our less expe- rienced practitioners to make honest mistakes without fear of reprisal. As the Irish playwright, novelist and poet Oscar Wilde said, “Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.” Allowing members of our workforce to make mis- steps and learn from them is the only way to grow a workforce prepared to become our future leaders.


Terefore, we must create an environ- ment that encourages calculated and educated mistakes and actually rewards


those willing to take such risks in the right circumstances and for the right reasons. Tus, mistakes become “teach- ing moments,”


opportunities to gain


valuable insights into what went wrong and how the outcome could have been different. For leaders to participate con- structively in this process, they, in turn, must do better at coaching and mentor- ing. A cultural change is very difficult to put into practice if the organization does not conscientiously focus on this critical aspect of leadership.


In addition, we can mitigate the likeli- hood of recurring mistakes and even avoid others by sharing lessons learned. Databases of lessons learned appear to have limited success, in that they capture and categorize lessons, yet are cumber- some to access for specific situations that arise in day-to-day business. However, on-the-job training, mentoring and inter- active online forums can be very useful by enabling instant interactions and active sharing of knowledge and experience, which is how today’s youth learn in this instant communication and information age. However we choose to make this


happen, interaction and positive rein- forcement at all levels are among the best ways to create a learning environment that will benefit individuals and foster organizational agility and innovation.


CONCLUSION I must admit, the Section 809 Panel has its work cut out for it. With a wide-open mandate from the House and Senate defense oversight committees to assume no parameters and “to think way outside the box,” as one congressional staffer put it, there is virtually no avenue we are prevented from pursuing in the realm of DOD acquisition.


Although an exhilarating prospect, such a large-scale endeavor will require dis- cipline and focus to yield a result that deals effectively with the immense scale and complexity of the DOD acquisition process and provides palatable solutions to the department, Congress and the American people, who are demanding such large-scale reform. Regardless of what the panel ultimately decides, my goal as a member is to work with my fel- low 809 Panel members to reform the


ASC.ARMY.MIL 137


COMMENTARY


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