Fix the U.S. government by networking

By Julia L. Stern

Best Defense guest
columnist

People say government is broken, that no matter how many interagency
working groups or strategy documents are produced, the stovepipes that have
been long-entrenched among government offices will inevitably remain.

As an idealistic 20-something at the outset of my career in Washington,
I of course believed that my peers and I would break down the walls of
bureaucracy and effect change from the inside out. And while there was certainly
momentum to integrate efforts across agencies, particularly within the
intelligence community in the wake of 9/11, I now understand the reality of
implementing information sharing and integration ideas to be more nuanced than
adhering to the mandates of the 9/11 Commission Report. And while the
millennial generation -- increasingly populating the workforce -- is
characterized as über-connected networkers knowing no barriers, communication
and info sharing at all levels occurs based on personal relationships and is ad
hoc at best.

Retired general Stanley McChrystal recently sent me an e-mail sharing
his thoughts on the issue, from the perspective of a leader well-versed in
innovative organization:

The speed and complexity of how we operate now means that we need to be
able to operate across organizational lines earlier in careers, and at more
junior levels. That means you can't afford to have people toiling within their
respective ‘guilds' developing journeyman-like technical proficiency -- yet
largely not needing to understand or comfortably work across organizational
lines. Senior people had that responsibility.

Second, we've found that during the years of isolated service building
internally focused skills and experience, individuals tend to internalize
strong organizational cultures that encourage, reward, and sometimes even
prevent, working effectively with other agencies or organizations.

While institutional change takes a long time to stick, there are three
key steps we can take as a government to foster greater collaboration both at
the individual and at the institutional level:

1. Develop a U.S. government-wide interagency
academy.

Just as each of the military services has its own academy to train and
prepare future officers in the operating forces, there should be a comparable
opportunity for junior U.S. government personnel -- both military and civilian
-- to level the playing field of knowledge across all agencies and job
functions at the outset of their careers.

A program to teach young action officers about their counterparts across
Defense, State, USAID, Treasury, Congress, Justice, the intelligence community,
and law enforcement elements would raise awareness of capabilities and
authorities outside our own agencies, and of the value inherent in
collaborating with partners. Additionally, the curriculum should follow a
standardized USG planning process (and accompanying vocabulary) that can
actually be understood and implemented across agencies. Participants would end
up with the same understanding and interpretation of USG policy in the
classroom, and therefore be much better equipped to work together once on the
ground, whether in Washington or downrange in a combat zone.

2. Make available more interagency rotations
for junior personnel.

Given the integrated nature of future security operations, Defense
officials have acknowledged the need to increase engagement with other services
and civilian agencies such as the Department of State and USAID -- both from a
high-level policy planning perspective in Washington, as well as on the ground
within country teams and joint organizations.

A prime example of institutional efforts toward integration can be taken
from the Marine Corps's Junior Officer Strategic Intelligence Program. Junior
level officers are immersed in the work and culture of an intelligence agency
office, creating lasting professional connections and exposing them to data and
tools that they would have otherwise not known to exist -- resources that these
officers will take back with them to the Marine Corps. Similarly, the presence
of Marine officers in these civilian agencies serves as a constant reminder to
policymakers and policy informers of Marines in the field and how these
policies impact troops. Beyond the Marine Corps, the Department of Defense and
intelligence community offer similar joint duty and educational opportunities
for military and civilian personnel to gain exposure outside of their home
agency.

These types of cross-sector experiences are crucial as we face a set of
interconnected, complex global challenges that will require innovative
approaches and resources to address. The key is making these opportunities
known to personnel across military and civilian agencies early enough in their
careers, so that they can leverage the training, education, and other
prerequisites necessary to pursue the joint, interagency experiences that will
broaden their skills and strategic perspectives. The existing Presidential
Management Fellows program -- the mission of which is to foster a cadre of
future government leaders -- exemplifies this opportunity by exposing fellows
to several interagency rotations over two years. This model should be embraced
across government.

3. Ensure implementation of interagency
experiences throughout one's career, and tie
promotion and professional incentives to interagency rotations.

Experience from interagency rotations and exposure to counterparts at a U.S.
government academy, no matter how productive at the time, will be far less
worthwhile for the individuals and institutions involved if not directly
implemented throughout the participant's career.

It is often simply easier not
to reach out to another office and get another opinion on the issue at hand,
particularly when a deadline is fast approaching. This is human nature. There
must be a mechanism to ensure accountability at the institutional level.
Further, senior leaders across agencies and services must equally endorse
promotion of personnel with interagency experience, acknowledging not only the
value but the necessity of these experiences to bolster the future of the USG
workforce. Individual institutions have much to gain -- a better informed workforce
and the ability to influence partners -- from a program of earnest engagement
with the interagency, particularly if the resulting relationships and exchange
of best practices are infused back into U.S. government channels.

Since this legion of young professionals will inevitably assume the
ranks and decision-making responsibility of U.S. policymakers, we must start
the process of earnest collaboration now. This is not to say by any means that
GenY/millennials' networking instincts are right and our predecessors are
wrong. It all comes down to the individuals involved, and turf wars and
hoarding of information certainly exist throughout the ranks. We are not
necessarily more curious about our peers' perspectives than are our
supervisors, nor are we adequately incentivized to seek out counterparts on a
more-than-ad-hoc basis. But the technological and intellectual foundations of
borderless communication have been laid -- those entering the workforce in 2013
have never known a world where instantaneous virtual contact is not the norm --
and in a world where geographic and sectoral lines are increasingly blurring,
it has never been more critical (or possible) to actually embrace our networks.

Ultimately, institutions have to become networked and not just the
people inside them. However, by developing robust training, education, and
exchange opportunities for junior personnel -- and ensuring these experiences
are strategically managed throughout their careers -- the next generation of
our government will naturally mirror its people.

Julia
L. Stern is a senior consultant with Booz Allen  Hamilton, where she has worked on Afghanistan, national
security, and intelligence issues for the Department of Defense, as well as
security cooperation policy for the Marine Corps. She plans to pursue a master's
degree in public policy at the Kennedy School this autumn.