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16 minutes ago, Vern Edwards said:

Matthew:

You are making way too much of the phrase "focal point."

Maybe so, but I recall someone lecturing during FAR Bootcamp on the importance of paying attention to the words in the FAR, plain language, etc. and that sentence reads how it reads.  Just out of curiosity, what's your definition of "focal point?"

23 minutes ago, Vern Edwards said:

"After release of the solicitation, the contracting officer must be the focal point of any exchange with potential offerors" indicates nothing more than that the people in the contracting office are in charge of all exchanges of information. That sentence was put there to give the contracting people a regulatory basis to rein in the technical people who, left to their own devices, would say goodness-knows-what to goodness-knows-who. It's absurd to claim that it requires the contracting officer to follow any particular procedure.

If that is so, why doesn't FAR 15.201(f) instead read something along the lines of "...the contracting office/activity (or an individual designated by the contracting officer) must be the focal point of any exchange with potential offerors?"

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6 hours ago, Matthew Fleharty said:

Maybe so, but I recall someone lecturing during FAR Bootcamp on the importance of paying attention to the words in the FAR, plain language, etc. and that sentence reads how it reads.  Just out of curiosity, what's your definition of "focal point?"

Well, a FAR Bootcamp graduate will remember that you first look for an official definition. There is no official definition of focal point. That being the case, you look for a common dictionary definition in accordance with FAR 1.108(a). Here is what the FAR Bootcamp official dictionary, The American Heritage of the English Language 5th, says:

focal point, n. See focus.

 
Quote

 

fo·cus
Share: 
1. 
a. The distinctness or clarity of an image rendered by an optical system.
b. The state of maximum distinctness or clarity of such an image: in focus; out of focus.
c. An apparatus used to adjust the focal length of an optical system in order to make an image distinct or clear: a camera with automatic focus.
2. 
a. A point at which rays of light or other radiation converge or from which they appear to diverge, as after refraction or reflection in an optical system: the focus of a lens. Also called focal point.
b. See focal length.
3. 
a. A center of interest or activity: "Precisely how diet affects E. coli in livestock is the focus of current research" (Cindy Engel).
b. Close or narrow attention; concentration: "He was forever taken aback by [New York's] pervasive atmosphere of purposefulnessthe tight focus of its drivers, the brisk intensity of its pedestrians" (Anne Tyler).
c. A condition in which something can be clearly apprehended or perceived: couldn't get the problem into focus.
4. Medicine The region of a localized bodily infection or disease.
5. Geology The point of origin of an earthquake.
6. Mathematics A fixed point whose relationship with a directrix determines a conic section.

 

 

Term of art? Well, maybe, in the field of optics: 

     the point at which initially collimated rays of light meet after passing through a convex lens, or reflecting from a concave mirror

Maybe the field of game theory:

     an equilibrium more likely to be chosen by the players because it seems special, natural or relevant to them

Those are among several special usages provided in Wikipedia. Which do you like best?

FAR 15.201(f) is what happens when people assigned to write a regulation resort to metaphor instead of plain English, which is what the law requires. And what you have been doing is what people do when they inappropriately attribute clear meaning of their own choice to the inappropriate choices of regulation writers in a way that needlessly limits CO discretion and freedom of action.

Based on my knowledge and experience, an appropriate interpretation of the meaning of the contracting officer shall be the focal point is that inquires are to be directed or forwarded to the contracting officer or someone in the contracting office who will do with them what is appropriate in light of the rest of FAR 15.201(f), the decisions of the GAO and the COFC, and sound professional contracting practice. That would include directing a contract specialist to read them and obtain the information sought from appropriate specialists within the agency, such as the technical personnel, the legal office, or the contracting officer herself.

As to your last question: as I recall you were unable to attend the recent Critical Thinking course at SMC. Check online listings of logical fallacies and see if you can identify the one that your question entails. The research will be useful to you. I won't answer such a question.

I hope you know that I think the world of you, Matthew. If I didn't, I wouldn't have wasted my time here. If you stick around and get a star, and if I'm still alive, please invite me to the pinning on ceremony.

 

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3 hours ago, Vern Edwards said:

Well, a FAR Bootcamp graduate will remember that you first look for an official definition.

I certainly didn't forget that rule (refer to post #16).  Whether my definitions were adequate or not, well...

3 hours ago, Vern Edwards said:

FAR 15.201(f) is what happens when people assigned to write a regulation resort to metaphor instead of plain English, which is what the law requires. And what you have been doing is what people do when they inappropriately attribute clear meaning of their own choice to the inappropriate choices of regulation writers in a way that needlessly limits CO discretion and freedom of action.

Fair point and thanks for the reminder.  I have a follow up question:

Since the use of metaphor versus plain English is not always readily apparent, any advice on distinguishing between the two when reading and interpreting regulations?

3 hours ago, Vern Edwards said:

As to your last question: as I recall you were unable to attend the recent Critical Thinking course at SMC. Check online listings of logical fallacies and see if you can identify the one that your question entails. The research will be useful to you. I won't answer such a question.

As I was typing that sentence, I thought about stating that it was a facetious remark, but then a part of me hoped that maybe someone could offer an explanation (however unlikely).  I think you answer the point anyways with your previous statement regarding writers of the regulation using metaphor instead of plain English - I'll try in the future not to shift the burden or appeal to ignorance (not sure which term/label for the fallacy you taught in your Critical Thinking course), but it wasn't an attempt to prove my previous position if no one provided an explanation, I was merely trying to gather any information that may or may not be out there.

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5 hours ago, Matthew Fleharty said:

Since the use of metaphor versus plain English is not always readily apparent, any advice on distinguishing between the two when reading and interpreting regulations?

Definition and context are the only ways to distinguish that I can think of.

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10 hours ago, Vern Edwards said:

And what you have been doing is what people do when they inappropriately attribute clear meaning of their own choice to the inappropriate choices of regulation writers in a way that needlessly limits CO discretion and freedom of action.

Ain't that the truth!  It happens all too often, by otherwise reasonable people.  We need to read and interpret the FAR in a reasonable manner, in a manner that makes sense, and so forth.  Common sense, please...

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3 hours ago, Vern Edwards said:

Definition and context are the only ways to distinguish that I can think of.

I've gained a new interest in pursuing/understanding this topic a bit more so, while I'm doing my own research, if you or anyone else has examples of the use of metaphor instead of plain English in contracting regulations I'd like to see the references/excerpts.

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Guest Vern Edwards

Remember the definition of metaphor:

Quote

A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison, as in "a sea of troubles" or "All the world's a stage" (Shakespeare)." The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th.

Thus, ceiling price, which is used in several places, e.g., FAR 8.404(h)(3)(ii)(B): "Include a ceiling price in the order that the contractor exceeds at its own risk." Why not say price limitation or price limit or maximum price? FAR is full of that sort of thing. Much professional jargon is metaphorical in nature. Strategy is another such term. What the hell is an acquisition strategy? That's military terminology. It comes from the Greek for generalship. Evolutionary acquisition is another metaphorical term, developed by people who obviously don't know anything about the theory of evolution. Sounds good, though. See Harvard Business Review, September 2003, "The Fruitful Flaws of Strategy Metaphors."

I'm not suggesting that the FAR councils should go through and change all that sort of thing. I'm just saying that we should not read too much into poor word choices that produce vague terms. Such usages come from people who don't have a clear idea about what they mean when they say something.

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