Government Executive - Authors - Adrian Wolfberg

Crossing Boundaries

Adrian Wolfberg — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The Defense Intelligence Agency's Knowledge Laboratory works to change behaviors from Cold War norms to those that foster agile networked collaboration and rapid integration of knowledge. It focuses on getting people to work together-sharing their research and analysis while it's in progress, not just when projects are finished. It also helps people overcome their tendency to hold on to information as if it belonged to them, since government cannot afford to behave this way anymore.

A model for agencies governmentwide that struggle to break down organizational barriers and inspire solutions, the lab celebrates employees who promote collaboration. Nearly 200 initiatives have been launched in less than two years by employee volunteers through the lab's experimental program called Crossing Boundaries. Developed from the lessons and insights gained since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, these initiatives have shown that as the flow and sharing of knowledge has increased, so has the agency's effectiveness.

Launched in May 2006, Crossing Boundaries is a forum in which employees can present solutions directly to the DIA director, Lt. Gen. Michael Maples. It includes monthly sessions designed to address organizational problems and prompt immediate feedback from agency leaders and employees.

Crossing Boundaries eliminates the need to go through the chain of command to present complex solutions.

The program gives employees the opportunity to collaborate across organizational lines, from the analysis directorate to acquisition. It empowers them to take action to improve the organization without micromanaging or restrictions from agency leaders.

Employees who submit ideas become owners of the solution. If their ideas are deemed worthy of pursuit, then Maples gives them permission to act as agents for change. They work with the staff and line organizations that have a stake in their solutions to determine their viability and develop a business plan. One employee, for example, launched a pilot program to revamp DIA's time and attendance reporting system, networking with human resources and payroll services staff to identify improvements.

By the end of January, 197 such solutions had been recommended, 73 of which resulted in positive change. A little more than 70 ideas are still in progress. Only 5 percent were declined-a testament to the value of employee involvement in organizational change.

The Crossing Boundaries concept requires a senior executive who will interact with employees and who has faith in their capabilities. Another critical element is a team that can guide idea submitters through their journey. The Knowledge Lab Crossing Boundaries Team provides that support by coaching idea owners on the steps to take and issues to address.

As the program matures, employees have been more likely to share their perspectives on a problem or solution, often offering to contribute to the research. Sometimes idea submitters discover that a similar initiative is under development or already in place. These interactions build a network of professionals-and a change in behaviors that fosters collaboration.

The latest phase of the program is to transfer governance from senior executives to a representative body called the Crossing Boundaries Council, which includes members from all DIA organizations. Spreading the ownership once held by a few has boosted enthusiasm among employees who want to help wherever they can. That can go a long way toward making any agency a true knowledge-based organization.

Adrian "Zeke" Wolfberg is director of the Knowledge Laboratory at the Defense Intelligence Agency.

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Crossing Boundaries

Adrian Wolfberg — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Program gives employees the power to reach across agency lines and put ideas in place.

Crossing Boundaries eliminates the need to go through the chain of command to present complex solutions.

Adrian "Zeke" Wolfberg is director of the Knowledge Laboratory at the Defense Intelligence Agency.

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A Formula for Success

Adrian Wolfberg — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0400

Governments, on the other hand, could face mortal risks and consequences if they do not adapt. Since change has more gravity for them, it might be more fruitful for agencies and the military to study revolutions and counterrevolutions. Transformation in government seeks to create and nurture revolutionary behavior that is legitimate and supported by the status quo. The Defense Intelligence Agency was a test bed for this thesis.

The linchpins of the given order are the fundamental durability of bureaucratic processes and the resilience of bureaucrats who make them work. While business transformation uses incentives and accountability, government has much less such capability. Thus, if DIA can make progress changing, then such progress might be transferable to other organizations.

Three Ingredients

At the heart of the sanctioned revolution are three things: an imperative for change that strikes at the core of the mission; a strategy that identifies and attacks the right problem; and an execution of the strategy that is alive and exciting. Key to execution is flexibility.

The Sept. 11 attacks served as a trigger for unfreezing agency thinking. They were the catalyst to consider new perspectives in intelligence. The changes began in earnest in 2003. Vice Adm. Lowell "Jake" Jacoby, then DIA director, created a vision statement for the agency that integrated functions to ensure knowledge was discovered and not lost.

Two signal events occurred in 2004, stimulated by Chief of Staff Louis Andre. First, DIA conducted a "lessons learned" study of its analytic performance leading up to the 2003 Iraq war. Second, it created a plan that translated Jacoby's vision into goals and objectives.

During the research for the strategic plan, the agency found no comprehensive and revolutionary models in other government plans to serve as a guide. The closest was the Government Accountability Office, and DIA modeled its plan on GAO's.

DIA's approach was based on three principles. First, the agency discovered that any mechanism to facilitate change must be positioned outside DIA's business units and must have the protection of top leader- ship. Second, it saw that structuring this mechanism should be done through raids-short-term pilot projects-instead of battles or sieges. Agency leaders insisted that the pilot take place where the work actually was being done-at the practice level. To overcome what DIA called the "zero-sum game constraint," the mechanism could not occupy its own separate physical space, could not have resources other than one person and minimal funding, and should create a network of volunteers-revolutionaries-to spread new behaviors discovered through pilot projects. DIA named the new mechanism the Knowledge Laboratory.

Lab Tests

DIA leaders levied three initial requirements on the Knowledge Laboratory. First, that the types of pilot projects launched had proved successful elsewhere. Second, that the pilots focused on more effective communication at the practice level, assessing and implementing lessons learned where work occurs. And third, that the pilots produced an understanding of DIA's social networks and identified areas where collaboration-the key to integration-was occurring or not.

By the end of 2005, the Knowledge Laboratory achieved a reputation for excellence inside DIA as well as from intelligence colleagues, other agencies, academia and business. From DIA's perspective, it earned this reputation by attacking the right problem and making small changes and improvements in core processes. The right problem was a lack of collaboration within DIA. The right solution was to allow seeking, creating and sharing knowledge to trump organizational impediments.

A key discovery was that in order for people to behave differently, they need better values. Knowledge Laboratory participants had to believe in the significance of the DIA mission passionately, unselfishly want to fulfill it and be committed to overcoming existing and emerging obstacles. These values could not be acquired by reading a manual. DIA learned that realizing values can occur only by experiencing new behaviors. Today, the lab must discover ways to spread new learning-based behaviors throughout DIA. Its mission is to create the environment so DIA can become a learning organization.

In early 2006, DIA's new director, Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples, arrived making a remarkable admission to his subordinates: "I have much to learn." This assertion suggested that, if the director was committed to learning, the entire agency must be. Maples also expressed the desire to expand DIA's integration vision to all defense intelligence agencies.

Maples sent the head of the Knowledge Laboratory to the Center for Creative Leadership, an international nonprofit educational institution. CCL had just launched a three-month virtual program that included a highly customized, interactive program focused on real challenges participants faced.

The CCL experience allowed the lab to see itself in a new light. Rather than rebelling against the given order, its mission became creating a new order from the best features of the old: committed DIA people. Proj-ects now focus on mission results through process improvements. The bottom-up approach incorporating a network of volunteers also evolved with Maples' support. He added vigorous engagement by senior leaders. The lab built and is executing a long-range strategy with an integrated roadmap for pilot projects five years into the future.

While the Knowledge Laboratory could let evolution take its course, the outcome might or might not be aligned with DIA's focus on improving intelligence collaboration. The strategy ahead is to create approaches that institutionalize learning in ways more purposeful. And by transforming DIA, the lab is helping to drive transformation in the wider intelligence network.

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A Formula for Success

Adrian Wolfberg — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0400

Sometimes you have to shake up the status quo.

Business literature is replete with recipes for successfully leading organizational change and transformation. Change and adaptation are essential to a firm's vitality and growth, but rarely will failure to change result in mortal risks and consequences.

Three Ingredients

Lab Tests

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