This week’s issue of Federal Computer Week features a column by Steve Kelman, a professor of public management at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and former administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. Kelman’s column, Let’s promote the IT Exchange, advocates participation in OPM's IT Exchange, a program that allows government IT employees at the GS-11 level or higher to work temporarily (between three months and two years) in industry and allows industry people to become short-term government employees. Kelman cites two reasons for why this program should be encouraged. The first was a way to give industry employees a chance to work a stint as civil servants, as an alternative model for public service It would also give the federal government a way to get some needed talent, if only for the short term. The second reason Kelman offers for why the IT Exchange program is such a good idea is to improve the level of trust and cooperation between agencies and industry. This trust would in turn foster more information sharing.
Here’s another reason to promote the IT Exchange: Out of the box ideas and creative solutions often come to those people who can disassociate themselves – mentally and physically from their work space. You’ve surely had the answer to a complex problem miraculously reveal itself while you’re in the shower, chopping vegetables or sitting in traffic. How about the way a solution flickers in the back of your mind and won't materialize until it’s ready? Or when you talk to a neighbor at a cookout about his job as an architect, wholesale produce supplier or financial analyst, and suddenly you make a connection to your own IT work?
People who walk in the other guy’s shoes gain perspective and insight. That certainly builds trust, as Kelman says, but it also sets the stage for some creative thinking. We’ll be needing lots more of that.
If you've ever had a great idea come to you from an unexpected quarter, let us know.
View Comments
Hello, of course I came to visit your site and thanks for letting me know about it. I just read this post and wanted to say it is full of number one resources. Some I am familiar with. For those who don’t know these other sites they are in for a treat as there is a lot to learn there.
Posted by Natural Male Enhancement on March 4, 2008 - 05:48 AM
Post a Comment
To post a comment, you must be a registered user of FCW.com and be logged in. Use one of the forms below to login or register for FREE to FCW.com. To protect your privacy, you can use an alias as your username.
