Views of Federal Acquisition Workforce Skills Vary Widely, Who's Right?

It appears that members of the acquisition workforce have a much more positive view of their skills and capabilities than do their leaders. Comparing acquisition professionals' own ratings of their competencies to a recent survey of their leaders' views shows wide ratings gaps in many areas.

This matters, because the workforce competency survey is used to set the acquisition training agenda for civilian agencies. The perception gap may mean that the skills that acquisition leaders believe are critical won't be identified as educational priorities because acquisition workforce members believe they already have them.

https://www.asigovernment.com/ideas-insights/asi-analysis-surveys-reveal-large-gap-in-views-of-workforce-skills/

Is America a "Congenitally Racist Country Erected Upon the Plunder of Life, Liberty, Labor and Land?"

At this moment especially, when we search for answers to Ferguson, New York and elsewhere, we can find them in this stunning piece of real, old-time, long-form, investigative journalism, from the cover of the Atlantic magazine in June. And the chief answer, without question, is that we are a nation founded on white supremacy and still imposing it actively through governmental power, from policing on up to health insurance and housing policy and much more.

Here is the author, Ta-Nahesi Coates, from a Nov. 26 post about the agony of watching a black president contort himself so as not to have to address the essential core of racism at the heart of our economy, polity, history and America's existence"

"In nearly every major American city one can find a population of people whose very existence, whose very history, whose very traditions, are an assault upon this country's nationalist instincts. Black people are the chastener of their own country. Their experience says to America, 'You wear the mask.'"

White supremacy is pervasive and it is part of everything we are as Americans. If you read nothing else, please read "The Case for Reparations: Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racists housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole."

We must name the truth of our country and we must face and honestly confront and answer for it. Only then, do we create a way to heal.

Uber Netflixed Taxis, Who Will Uber Uber?

Credit: Getty Images

Digital disruption ala Uber vs. taxis, is an accelerating, inexorable force. It's not a question of if software will eat you; it's just a question of when.

Back Again!

I've waited a bit just to make sure, but it appears that Vivek Kundra finally is back to stay.

His saga is a cautionary tale for everyone seeking to serve the Obama administration, though. Washington is a "no good deed goes unpunished" town. In attempting to make personnel decisions carefully and to avoid conflicts of interest, the Obama administration has unleashed an evil djin--a crowd of pundits, bloggers, reporters and groups ready to pounce on the slightest taint. Once leashed, this monster will leave no stone unturned, no closet unopened. I suppose that is as it should be, especially in this era of transparency, but it's going to take some getting used to. Remember the days when all manner of private peccadilloes remained private?

I guess sunlight will be disinfecting us all now. So here's a reminder: Don't commit anything to the Ethernet, public records, or anywhere else unless you are prepared to see it, well, everywhere.

And now that Kundra is back, expect to see mountains of once-hidden or impenetrable federal data being unearthed, cleansed, transmitted and revealed. The Data.gov countdown begins . . .