I gave this presentation to the Interagency Acquisition Career Managers Council in June 2014. My goal was to describe how structured training reduces intrinsic motivation, thereby limiting the value of individual contributors. Learning Paths address the motivation challenge while providing an opportunity for organizations to preserve the knowledge of an ever-more transient workforce. Our first iteration, Learning Path: Cloud, launched this month and is open to anyone with an interest.

1. Federal Acquisition of IT
Solving Challenges through Social Learning
June 2014

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1. Why is it difficult to acquire IT?
2. Improving capabilities through workforce
development
3. Enabling core-plus specialization in IT
acquisition
4. Learning path solutions
5. Questions & discussion
Topics

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Why is it Difficult to Acquire IT?

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IT Projects Have Unique Risks
• Technical obsolescence
• Risk implicit in contract type
• Technical feasibility
• Interoperability
• Frequency of other high risk
projects
• Funding availability
• Program management risk
• Cybersecurity
TECHNICAL
SCHEDULE
COST

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Developing Software is Hard
Standish Group Chaos Report Findings on IT Projects
32%
52%
16%
Cancelled
Early
Late &
Over Budget
Completed
on Time
0
%

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Typical Development Lifecycle

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Stakeholder Interests
Single
Multiple
Component/Enterprise
stakeholders
complexity & time

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How Government Views Failure
Waste,
Fraud &
Abuse

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How Government Should View Failure
Waste &
Write-off
Trial &
Error
Fraud &
Abuse
Process
Improvement
ProgressAccountability
Learning!

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Improving Capabilities through
Workforce Development

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Acquisition Workforce Development Challenges
• Funding
• Staff support
• Prioritization
• Attrition
• Bathtub effect
• Knowledge
capture
• Application
• Knowledge
Transfer
• Scrap Learning

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Desire
Diligence
Necessity
Yearning
Intrinsic
Extrinsic
Addressing the Development Challenges

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VALUE =
(Personal costs +
supervisory costs)
Contributions
**Extrinsically
motivated
employees have a
higher
denominator.
Why Does Motivation Matter?

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Necessity Diligence Desire Yearning
Structured Training May Impact Motivation

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Necessity Diligence Desire Yearning
Truncating the Bell Curve

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Necessity Diligence Desire Yearning
Truncating the Bell Curve

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Curiosity
Interests
Aptitude
Rewards
How to Foster Intrinsic Motivation?

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Alignment is the Key
Desire
Diligence
Necessity
Yearning

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Enabling Core-Plus Specialization
in IT Acquisition

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To support core-plus
specialization, we are
curating a learning
path for the
acquisition of cloud-
enabled IT services
The Cloud Computing Learning Path
Network
Software
Compute
Apps
&
APIs
Storage
Cloud-enabled
IT Services

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An open assembly of
experiential and
developmental activities
designed to improve
competency in a
specialized area of focus,
such as information
technology
What Is a Learning Path?

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The open curriculum allows anyone to gain applied
experience through individual and team activities
The Open Curriculum Difference
Requirements Development
Acquisition Streamlining
Planning & Strategy
Regulation & Policy
Solicitation & Award
Industry Insight
Administration & Changes
Critical Thinking

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Participants control
their progress by
selecting activities
that are best aligned
with their learning
needs
Strategy
Policy &
Regulation
Critical
Thinking
Requirements
Development
The Open Curriculum Difference

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Sharing & Retaining Knowledge
Participants
contribute learning
outcomes to an
open platform to
promote
information sharing
and knowledge
retention.
CollaborationIteration
Challenge
Solution

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Learning Path Activities

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The Open Platform (Beta)

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Document
Explain
Create
• Debrief a GAO report or protest
• Explain a cloud related policy
• Develop an acquisition strategy for a cloud procurement
• Annotate an existing solicitation document and provide
analysis
• Lead a collaboration event
• Submit your content for peer review while serving as a
peer reviewer for another participant
1 CLP
2.5
CLPs
5 CLPs
The self-directed nature of the Learning Path enables flexibility,
fosters intrinsic motivation, and decreases time away from the job
while preserving the benefits of social and informal learning.
Self-Directed Activities – Start Earning Now!

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The Open Repository (Beta)

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Breaking Down Language Barriers

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Open Registry for Cloud SLA’s

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Open Registry for Cloud Risks
Risk Mitigation OwnerRank
1
2
3
4

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We’ll host the first such event at the Amazon
Web Services Government, Education, and
Nonprofits Symposium
June 26 at the DC Convention Center
The Cloud Computing “Hackathon”

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For More Information:
fmcnally@asigovt.com
703-216-0097