If you follow federal IT you more than likely already read Steve O’Keeffe. But if you are new to this world you can find him at http://MeriTalk.com
Last week he treated his followers to a nicely written piece which used metaphors from the Titanic (but in this case, the USS ITanic).This is a great overview of some key leadership challenges in federal IT.
The facts in the piece hit hard. Hard like an iceberg.
Here is his opening:
There’s been hysteria about the grey tsunami since before I had grey hair. But, today seems Uncle Sam’s IT is really drowning in a digital-drop-out deluge. By all reports, Fed IT execs line up to jump overboard from the USS ITanic.
And, it’s not just grey beards – young IT leaders are pulling on life vests. Let’s consider those in the lifeboats – Simon Szykman, CIO, Commerce; Casey Coleman, CIO, GSA; Anil Karmel, deputy CTO at Energy NNSA; Anmy Torres, Deputy Division Chief, Cyber Acquisitions, Air National Guard; Major Linus Barloon, Chief of Cyber Operations at the White House – the list goes on… Let me know who I’m missing. It’ll be interesting to try to compile a full manifest.
He also does some research into open billets in federal IT. Stats he captures were put this way:
But, let’s get beyond the anecdotal. We decided to scan the horizon on USAjobs.gov on March 3rd. Iceberg ahead. There are 2,559 open Fed “technology” jobs – 547 in a 50-mile sail of D.C. Of the total tech empty berths, only 1,256 are open to non govies – so 1,303 are only open to existing govies. Seventy percent of vacancies require mid-senior experience – GS11-15. The agencies with the biggest tech talent troubles – VA, DoD (HQ, Army, Air Force, Navy), HHS, and Interior. And, to rub salt in Uncle Sam’s wounds, there’s clearly a huge leadership vacuum – 124 SES vacancies.
From my interactions I do know of others departing and of open billets in the IT world in DoD and the IC. And know this is a serious problem. I don’t have a full solution, but do have a few comments I believe are worth considering.
In my opinion, there is a secret weapon in attracting talent to government IT. I have seen some really great, proven IT professionals come into government after successful service in industry. What makes these people come into government? It is never about the salary. It is about a mission. Great people like working on great things. And the missions of government agencies have never been more important. Every agency has a different mission and I’m not saying everyone should be able to be motivated by every mission, but I am saying that those missions are key to getting good people to pursue federal jobs.
So, to every agency director with vacant IT leadership billets, my suggestion is to ensure you are articulating your mission needs in your executive search.
Here are a couple proof points that show what I mean:
Many of us in the federal world have met Kirit Amin of Department of Commerce. He is an enthusiastic, mission-focused leader who has accepted challenges in multiple agencies and has been an example across wide swaths of government. He has a good mix of serious professionalism and humor and also has a history of understanding the right balance between innovation and optimizing legacy IT. And he is also a guy who came from industry to government. I imagine that is because he knows he can make a strategic difference on missions that matter.
Another leader like this is Phyllis Schneck of Department of Homeland Security. Her bios shows tremendous success in industry. Now she is leading cybersecurity activities at DHS. Clearly the only thing that would motivate a person to do something like this is the mission.
It is just my personal opinion, but I believe people like Kirit and Phyllis come into government to get things done. And I believe the government should encourage more people to do this by articulating the importance of the mission. And when people come in from industry like that, I believe the government should treat these players as strategic assets that are watched from the OMB level and deployed as required to the hard jobs. These types of people always intellectually stimulating missions to serve and if they succeed at their current position should be quickly moved to other leadership roles that need their talents, before they decide to move out of government completely.
So, for example, when positions come open like the gapped CIO spots reviewed by O’Keeffe, leaders like Phyllis and Kirit should be contacted and the status of their current duties discussed. If they are wrapping up major efforts maybe they can be compelled to move into new positions. Or maybe they can suggest others that can be brought in from the outside or promoted up from the ranks. They can also play a role in the selection of and review of candidates (which brings up a topic I should write about in a future post: clearly agency heads need help in selecting the best for CIO and CTO positions, so people who have succeeded in industry can help there too).
Those are just some views, again all centering around the importance of articulating the contributions of IT leadership to agency missions.
More reading:
The Use of Recorded Future for Cyber Security Professionals
The Mobile Internet: You won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is
A Great Engineering School Just Got Event Better: Fred Chang joins SMU, will focus on cyber security
DNSSEC: An interview with Joe Klein on why DNSSEC matters, how it works, and how you can use it
The Hard Thing About Hard Things: building a business when there are no easy answers
