{"id":32978,"date":"2017-12-28T15:38:22","date_gmt":"2017-12-28T15:38:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2017\/12\/28\/unwinding-bureaucracy-start-of-2018-to-see-major-pentagon-reform\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:44:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:44:52","slug":"unwinding-bureaucracy-start-of-2018-to-see-major-pentagon-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2017\/12\/28\/unwinding-bureaucracy-start-of-2018-to-see-major-pentagon-reform\/","title":{"rendered":"Unwinding bureaucracy: Start of 2018 to see major Pentagon reform"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The first two months of 2018 will see two major shifts on the business side of the Pentagon, with the creation of three new offices that will report directly to the secretary of defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal, deputy secretary of defense Patrick Shanahan told reporters on Dec. 21, is to make the changes as irreversible as possible in a system notoriously impervious to substantive changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to make sure that with the stroke of a pen or a few clicks of the keyboard, we can\u2019t undo progress,\u201d Shanahan said. \u201cWhen you think about enduring change, you have to wire or alter the work so that you don\u2019t regress. That\u2019s the hard part about big bureaucracy \u2014 is making enduring change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deputy acknowledged that the changes will lead to plenty of complaints from people whose offices are being moved around \u2014\u201cyou\u2019ll probably hear screaming and yelling because \u2018change is bad,\u2019 \u201d he predicted for reporters \u2014 but he said that \u201cif you\u2019re going to have a more performance-driven operation, you have to unwind the bureaucracy and reorganize.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t