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Return to Article: The Clinger-Cohen Act, 10 Years Later: The Age of Results

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  The author states that "... chief information officers are making good faith efforts to comply with the spirit and intent of every mandate foisted upon them." If this were true then there wouldn't be hundreds of millions (or billions) of dollars being spent on non-competed T&M development contracts masquerading as operations and maintenance efforts.

  It is true that the mandates CIOs work under are incredibly burdensome. But that is because senior managers in all agencies have proven over decades that, if left to themselves, they will be completely unable to show what if anything was received for money spent.

  My observation over the past 10 years has been that the federal managers are far too overburdened, and that this is primarily because of poor management on their own part. People with inadequate backgrounds and training are given responsibility for very large projects that affect the lives of many Americans, often in addition to their primary jobs. This is not a swipe at Mike Brown; the problem exists many layers down the org chart in many agencies.

  To successfully manage the responsibilities of a senior federal manager or CIO in this environment would require the patience of Job, the genius of Bill Gates, the management skills of Gen. Leslie Groves, and the personal charm of Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton, depending on party affiliation. To date, this magical combination has yet to appear, and it is unlikely to do so in the near future. Perhaps Congress and the agencies should try to do less, and concentrate on doing that better.

  Procopius Posted August 2, 2006 11:07 AM