MAKING IT OFFICIAL


In his presentation at DAU, Kendall explained what he meant by “profession- alism,” saying, “I know that at the end of every year, I’m a lot smarter than I was at the beginning of that year about what works and what doesn’t. Te idea of improving our professionalism is rec- ognizing [that we can improve] and to consciously set about doing that, so we get better at what we do.”


Kendall emphasized his belief in the power of continuous improvement. BBP


“was never intended to be a revolution- ary set of changes; it was designed to define best practices,” he said, “to find places on the margins where we could get some returns by doing things a little bit differently.” BBP 2.0 “isn’t about us setting down the rules and you blindly following them.” Kendall also made this point in his April 24 memorandum on the implementation of BBP 2.0. “BBP 2.0, like BBP 1.0, is not rigid dogma—it is guidance subject to professional judg- ment,” he wrote.


Troughout the memo, Kendall made plain the need to focus on people and to change the culture in defense acquisition.


“I’ve also made a point of the fact,” he said at the roundtable, “that there’s cul- tural change that is necessary for us to do a better job.”


Part of that change, he said, is creating incentives to save money rather than spend it. “Te obligation rate,” he con- tinued, “is a key example of that, where we punish people, effectively, for not spending money. Tat’s not how you negotiate a good contract. Tat should not be the metric. [If ] somebody can return money to the department or buy additional products in their own pro- gram, that’s a good thing. Savings are a good thing.”


COURTING SUCCESS, ALLOWING FOR FAILURE In his implementation memo and his presentation at DAU, Kendall focused on good decision-making at every step in the acquisition process. Indeed, the first of his key principles is “Tink.” Under that heading, he wrote, “We need to be true professionals who apply our educa- tion, training, and experience through analysis and creative, informed thought to address our daily decisions.” Tus the emphasis on professionalism permeat- ing BBP 2.0, which includes finding the right contract type for the job to mak- ing accurate should-cost projections; building stronger partnerships with the


74 Army AL&T Magazine July–September 2013


requirements community to control costs; and increasing the cost-consciousness of the acquisition workforce.


“If you’re going to think effectively,” he said at DAU, “you’ve got to have the knowledge base, the database in your head. You’ve got to have the experience to be able to do that, to apply the lessons that you’ve learned over a career.”


Increasing professionalism, he said, “is about developing people. It’s about man- agers who are conscious of the fact that one of their fundamental responsibilities is to improve the quality of the people that work for them, improve their skill set.


STRAIGHT TALK


Kendall acknowledges that acquisition could—and must be—smarter and more efficient. (DOD Photo by Erica Kobren)


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