FAR overhaul targets risk-averse acquisition culture

The federal government’s most ambitious acquisition reform in more than three decades requires fundamental changes to how contracting officers think about risk and is not just about rewriting regulations, according to Larry Allen of the General Services Administration.

Allen, associate administrator of GSA’s Office of Governmentwide Policy, spoke during a webcast hosted Wednesday by the Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University.

“Even if we rewrite the rules, we’re not going to be ultimately successful unless we reform the culture,” said Allen, who also is GSA’s chief acquisition officer.

One challenge the Federal Acquisition Regulation overhaul effort is trying to overcome is how risk-averse the acquisition workforce culture is. New rules alone will not change that, he said.

“The acquisition workforce needs to know that their senior agency management has their back when they make an innovative acquisition decision,” Allen said.

All too often, acquisition teams try something new and get backlash if it does not succeed. They can face the wrath of agency leadership, as well as possible investigations by the agency inspector general and congressional committees.

Cultural changes have to start at the top and the support for the procurement teams has to be explicit.

“We need to support people that make innovative acquisition decisions with the understanding that we’re not going to get it exactly right every time. But that’s how you learn,” Allen said. “It’s okay to break out from the norm. It’s okay to actually use the flexibilities that are given to you.”

Revisions have been released for several parts of the FAR with more to come. Many of the changes have emphasized the flexibilities that acquisitions teams need to have.

“We’re not stripping down the whole thing to nothing, but we do want to make sure that we’re providing people with the rules they need in order to be effective,” Allen said when describing a balanced approach of removing unnecessary restrictions while providing clear guidance where needed.

One goal is for acquisition teams to feel empowered – and have confidence that their leadership will support smart risk taking and not punish imperfect outcomes.

“You don’t want to do things in a haphazard way,” he said. “We need to send a positive message to the people who are doing the buying that it’s okay to break out from the norm.”