The ever-evolving training regime for federal acquisition workers is no longer just about the hard skills of acquisition.
It’s not that knowing the policy, the regulations and the laws isn’t important. No one would argue that. But acquisition workers need to transform by using soft skills now more than ever to lead successful procurements.
This concept is most evident in version 3 of the Defense Department’s Better Buying Power initiative. One of the key tenets of the effort is the need for critical thinking among acquisition workers.
This is the idea of contracting officers, program managers and others asking the right questions at the right time. Then, they would take those answers to plan and oversee the contract throughout its entire lifecycle.
“We are trying not to teach people just process, but learn why things happen. Part of that is learning all the stakeholders, their different roles and all the processes they play,” said Jim Woolsey, president of the Defense Acquisition University.
Keep reading this article at: http://www.federalnewsradio.com/1332/3721904/Acquisition-workers-as-critical-thinkers-A-change-that-has-to-happen
This story is part of Federal News Radio’s special report, “Missing Pieces of Procurement Reform.”
