“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
Barack Obama
So, it’s September 7th and I’m in the office working on some end of fiscal year and other procurement actions when I get an e-mail from my supervisor asking what will be the best time for me to start a 5-month mandatory digital training course—October or January. Like, when do I ever have the time to take a 5-month training course; I barely have time to take a 1-day training course! My response—well, I have 2 procurements that need to be awarded in March, so it really doesn’t matter. November 13th—e-mail from the DITAP Learning and Development Specialist saying please confirm that you will still be participating in the January cohort and, by the way, we will be sending you some pre-work on December 10th that will be due before your first day of class. Are these people kidding or what?! Don’t they know that I have 20+ actions to get done by the end of the calendar year? Not to mention the holidays are coming and you know how quickly things move after Thanksgiving! Fast forward to January 15th—welcome to DITAP01—and that’s when my transformation began.
Over the past 4-1/2 months we’ve been learning about what personality type we are, learning what is meant by digital services, analyzing and engaging stakeholders by considering their levels of influence, applying Agile methodologies, learning how Agile we are with building things and catching balls [we were really good at that], developing and executing product visions for digital services, learning how to have difficult conversations, etc. We even got to shadow an Agile project, prepare and present a Live Digital Assignment (Shark Tank style) and engage various stakeholders who are involved in the acquisition of digital services. And now that we’re approaching the end of course and I’m about to become a certified acquisition professional, the question is—what’s next? I have all of this new information floating around in my head, but what do I do with it?
Well, the first thing I’m going to do is walk proudly across that graduation stage to get the FAC-C-DS certification that I have worked so hard to earn. Thank you very much! Then, I’m going to log onto FAITAS and enter those CLPs—no scrambling around this time looking for courses to fulfill those 80 CLPs! OK, back to what to do with my new cert. I could try to move over to a program office in the Office of Information Technology, such as the Enterprise Architecture and Data Group (EADG) or the Infrastructure and User Services Group (IUSG). I currently award and administer contracts for these groups and I also interviewed people who work there for my individual stakeholder engagement project and for our Live Digital Assignment. So, I already know people who work there. I could try to move to another agency or a private sector company that is involved with the acquisition of digital services. While all those things are possible, I’m actually fine where I am. I mean, I already work in the Division of Information Systems Contracts, where I work with digital services, Agile methodologies, multistage procurements, and other concepts that we learned in class. So, I guess I’ll just use my brand new cert to do my job better. What a concept!
So what is better? First, I considered my vision of what digital transformation looks like for my agency. The good thing is that my agency is already implementing digital transformation by offering training courses such as this and incorporating Agile and Lean methodologies into our daily processes, including acquisition. I also envision an agency where there are true partnerships between the program offices/business owners and the contracting staff. This would be reflected by collaborative teams with common goals and objectives and that work to accomplish them together; not a bunch of siloed individuals that play the blame game when outcomes are not as expected. This includes better collaboration with the forgotten acquisition team members—the contractors. I would also like to see training on and more use of modular contracting, more multistage acquisitions, more oral presentations/demos and solicitations that allow for true innovation; not just doing things as we’ve always done them because it’s comfortable.
So, with that as my vision, I had to ask myself, what can I do to effect that change in my agency? I must admit that before I took this course, I had already taken an introductory Agile class and I had even conducted 3 procurements for projects that were to incorporate Agile methodologies, but still didn’t see much difference from an acquisition perspective. Everywhere I turned people were spewing Agile this, Agile that…everything must be Agile! But I was still wondering what all of the hype was about. What happened to that tried and true concept of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”? But if the acquisition methods and processes that we use aren’t broken, then why are people always complaining about them and their inefficiencies? Why do I complain? So, I had to follow Maya Angelou’s advice, “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” That’s where this DITAP course has had the greatest impact—changing my attitude. Although I may not always be able to immediately change what I feel needs to be fixed, I can use what I’ve learned to change my attitude. I have already used my knowledge to improve my acquisition plans, select better evaluation factors and criteria, and prepare better solicitations. I have even incorporated some best practices with preparing my TEP members and in reviewing contractor proposals. These are just small steps, but as Nelson Mandela put it, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” I may not be able to change the world with my new digital services acquisition knowledge, but I can use what I have learned to effect simple changes within my agency. For right now, that’s enough for me!
Digital IT Acquisition Professional (DITAP) Program Blog 