The federal government's acquisition reform emphasizes a fundamental shift in the risk management mindset of contracting officers. Larry Allen from GSA highlights that successful reform requires cultural changes in the acquisition workforce. Senior management must support innovative decisions and accept that failure is part of the learning process. Challenges include the existing risk-averse culture and backlash against new initiatives. Recent revisions to the Federal Acquisition Regulation introduce more flexibility to help teams succeed in their roles without compromising the integrity of the procurement process.
"Even if we rewrite the rules, we're not going to be ultimately successful unless we reform the culture," said Allen, who also is GSA's chief acquisition officer.
"The acquisition workforce needs to know that their senior agency management has their back when they make an innovative acquisition decision," Allen said.
"We need to support people that make innovative acquisition decisions with the understanding that we're not going to get it exactly right every time. But that's how you learn," Allen said.
"We're not stripping down the whole thing to nothing, but we do want to make sure that we're providing people with the rules they need in order to be effective."
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