I’ve talked a lot about PPBE Reform on this blog, and while that is an important effort, there’s a lot that the workforce can do within today’s rules and regulations. In fact, the two are complementary. One is top-down, the other bottom-up. One focuses on regulations, the other on culture. They must move together to be successful. If not, then DoD’s business practices will continue to thwart its ability to integrate emerging technologies and transform military operations.
Acquisition Next is what we at Mason GovCon call mindset and approach needed for DoD to compete with Russia and China in the 21st century. Linearity and prediction must be replaced with modern approaches of modularity, speed, iteration, and competition. The Center’s playbook suggests a way to implement the Acquisition Next mindset. Here’s the press release for Acquisition Next: A Playbook to Break the Industrial Age Paradigm. [Link]
February 7, 2022—The Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University today announced the results of a year-long research project to identify Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition best practices in an effort to improve the way the government and industry work together.
The goal of the project was to identify acquisition approaches that break the industrial age paradigm of linearity and prediction. Most importantly, the project sought modern approaches that could be accomplished today without any additional changes in regulation or legislative authority.
As Center Executive Director Dr. Jerry McGinn noted, “we worked to identify the practices that acquisition professionals and their industry counterparts can use now to innovate, iterate, scale, and field effective military capabilities for United States forces. Many of these practices are being used in programs, but widespread adoption will help drive culture change across the acquisition community.”
The defense acquisition system is a vital component to strategic competition with Russia and China. Future outcomes depend on the actions of acquisition professionals today. Government programs can become leaders in innovation again, but it requires a change in mindset and approach the Center calls Acquisition Next:
- Acquisition Next translates buzzwords into business practices that people can use
- Acquisition Next accelerates capability delivery and technology adoption
- Acquisition Next enables a highly composable joint force design
This playbook suggests a way to implement the Acquisition Next mindset. It distills the research into six plays designed to spur modularity, speed, iteration, and competition in defense acquisition. The first three apply at the total program level and to all system types. They enable the second three plays which are suited to contracts with software intensive content.
Program Level Plays
- Requirements. Make room for opportunities in program requirements
- Market Research. Make market intelligence a core and continuous organizational capability
- Master the Baseline. Tailor the contracting approach to technically separable elements
Software Intensive Plays
- Agile Work Statements. Separate technical direction from contract work statements
- Modular Contracts. Reduce risk by partitioning contract tasks over time and components
- Intellectual Property. Avoid vendor lock by deferring rights to interfaces and operational data
“As global threats continue to rise it is imperative that we address the key enablers of military power residing in our acquisition system,” said long-time Hill staffer and defense expert Bill Greenwalt. “The Center for Government Contracting has outlined a compelling acquisition framework that if implemented can begin to restore our national competitiveness and military capabilities.”
The Center looks forward to iterating on this playbook as researchers continue to engage with practitioners and embark on acquisition case studies. The goal is for this academic work to reflect empirical evidence and filter back into outcomes through advocacy, training, and pilot programs.
For comments or questions, please contact:
- Jerry McGinn, Center Executive Director, jmcginn5@gmu.edu
- Eric Lofgren, Center Fellow, elofgren@gmu.edu
You can read the Acquisition Next report here.
The Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University’s School of Business is a nexus for government, industry, and academia to explore issues in government contracting. The Center is the first university-based organization to address business, policy, regulatory and other issues in government contracting through research, collaboration, and education and training.
Leave a Reply