A Great Day to Start Re-Coding America

As the clock struck midnight on Sunday and our country avoided yet another manufactured political crisis, we entered the far less dramatic, yet far more impactful reality of our Federal Fiscal Year.? Despite the swirling on Capitol Hill, most of the work around the federal government does not happen in 30-second sound bites and tit-for-tat jabs like a reality television show.? It happens the way most organizational work happens – slow, methodically, boring, behind the scenes to deliver us (the customer) the services we have committed to each other through our political process.? ?

Jennifer Pahlka understands this process and describes it through her book Recoding America: Why Government is Failing and How We Can Do Better.? This detailed description of her life in and around government as a consultant, advisor, and employee provides many of the tried-and-true lessons that will feel familiar to folks working in the space.? These are well worn lessons earned by those with long tenures and battle scars – but you can get them in one place and you don’t have to learn the hard way.?

While Pahlka focuses on digital programs, her biggest overall lesson is direct and simple – government work is designed around process not solutions.? While politicians may laud their legislative accomplishments, Pahlka focuses on where the rubber meets the road, when this legislation ends its Schoolhouse Rock journey and starts its bureaucratic odyssey. This half of the story comes with an entirely different set of rules that drive behaviors, motivations, and incentives toward a set of outcomes that may or may not align with the intent of the legislation.?

Pahlka’s book is a must read for anyone studying the space of government contracting or, more importantly, anyone delivering within it.? She offers real recommendations around how to create a better process for digital solutions that will serve us all better. ?And while some of her book might cause Max Weber to roll in his grave and empower governmental cynics, the stories of hardworking advocates in the space are hopeful.? She is both realistic and optimistic about the future of our government.? There is plenty to be done to improve the process and every small step helps. ?After all, today is just the first working day of the fiscal year. ?