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Ironically, this attitude causes much of the problem. All that red tape isn’t just decorative. It’s a reaction to tons of concern (and concern-trolling) over government waste. “How do you know that a contract is above-board?”, you ask. You know this because some committee put together an absurdly detailed Request for Proposals, complete with requirements, evaluation metrics, milestones and circles and arrows on the back of each one. Throw in some politically-imposed requirements (can only travel on US Airlines, lest we “waste” money on the British) too for good measure. The winner’s proposal gets turned into a Statement of Work that specifies what’s to be done, when, where, and how. The whole mess gets audited and inspected and archived so it can be reviewed later by more auditors, Congress, and concerned citizens like you. Hiring is equally bonkers. Managers (mostly) can’t flip through the submitted resumes and pick out someone that seems clever and driven (“What if it’s their cousin?!?”) Instead, there are long questionnaires and fixed experience requirements. The manager can only pick from the top 3(?) candidates and the salary is barely negotiable. It is a huge pain. It’s slow, it’s expensive, and it’s not always responsive. The complicated process is exclusionary (Raytheon has rooms of staff that know these rules chapter and verse; you don’t). Right now, it feels like the system spends $100 to be sure it saves $1. We would be better off if we relaxed these controls a bit and trusted individuals a bit more (backed up with audits, obviously, lest anyone get ideas), but....here we are. |