{"id":22984,"date":"2016-10-25T19:34:53","date_gmt":"2016-10-25T19:34:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2016\/10\/25\/elc-ponders-balance-of-experienced-vs-edgy\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:58:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:58:17","slug":"elc-ponders-balance-of-experienced-vs-edgy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2016\/10\/25\/elc-ponders-balance-of-experienced-vs-edgy\/","title":{"rendered":"ELC ponders balance of \u2018Experienced vs. Edgy\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The federal government is at a crossroads, trying to manage both its traditional operations and innovative aspirations.The dissonance of streamlining and updating how the massive apparatus functions could be best embodied by the two generations at the forefront of the discussion: Baby Boomers and Millennials. ACT-IAC used its Executive Leadership Conference to illustrate how the two sides can bring their strengths together to better the government in an Oct. 24 panel discussion called the “Experienced vs. Edgy Debates.”Using a mix of industry and government, newcomers and experts, the panel sought to identify both their different approaches and how they could work together to improve federal agencies.Here are three takeaways from the talk: Effecting change in government<\/b>Perhaps the longest ongoing challenge is not finding innovation in government, but being able to scale it up to a meaningful level to transform the way agencies operate. “The biggest thing we have to do is institutionalize the change, something we’ve failed to do in the past,” said Rob Palmer, deputy chief technology officer at the Department of Homeland Security.“We’ve seen, and we see it now, these pockets of desire to go do these new things. What we’ve not done is really allow that to pervade throughout the entire business model.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Stan Soloway, CEO at consulting firm Celero Strategies, said through recent history the government has paradoxically embraced the desire to change, while continuing to operate on the status quo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I think there\u2019s still a lot of questions as to whether we have the collective will \u2014 I\u2019m talking about across the system \u2014 to actually make the changes we need to make,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What\u2019s different today is, first of all, the imperative. I really do worry that if we continue to fail to embrace change in a big way, the pace of change outside is going to leave the government further behind than it is already.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Palmer said that while advanced tools and IT are becoming more diffuse in federal agencies, it\u2019s a culture of innovation that needs to pervade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As a member and a leader of a technology organization, I love talking about technology, but frankly, that\u2019s not our problem at all,” he said. “The technology exists. Really what we need to do is get that desire increased throughout the community.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n