Mike Twardoski

I appreciate the perspectives, @Vern Edwards @formerfed . As a relative newcomer to the environment (less than 10 years), I'm trying to gauge whether we truly are set up for success this time around. Re-reading you thoughts, my mind wanders towards Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility for a Faster-Moving World by John Kotter. A wonderful book for anyone interested in how large organizations (even governments) can/have leveraged transformation efforts to respond to external forces. Not saying the advice and insights combine to form a silver bullet, but food for thought, nonetheless.

I'm curious about the thoughts of those who've witnessed previous reforms: what aspects of the current form make you either more optimistic, or more pessimistic, about the future of federal procurement?

Immediately? No, barring a catastrophe. Long run, in times of peace? Yes. I think SpaceX was the first major non-traditional to show what's possible. More Andurils and Palantirs have helped. The flow of VC toward these companies is shifting the landscape, albeit incrementally. Industry needs more demand signals. Munitions acceleration efforts are an interesting development. The momentum toward speed and incentives is there. My fear is whether this evolving architecture is durable enough to withstand failures, and whether those failures force a regression to more risk-averse, check-the-box procurement.

I would classify CICA as a failure in 2026. It seems to follow an axiom (competition will increase value) that, 40+ years later, hasn't aged well. Protest law is an absolute killer. Plus, I would argue the pace of technology, especially among our adversaries, keeps us fighting with one arm tied behind our back. It's a statute borne out of a very different time. Yes, speed isn't always a good thing. And yes, we don't want a corrupt process. However, I'd rather see fast failures and rapid iteration that keep us ahead of our adversaries. Let's stop overthinking it. Mimic the commercial marketplace.

I joke (?) that productive reform will only come once we enter another World War. Frenzies of letter contracts, emergency acquisitions, etc. Freedom's Forge, Part II. But it'll be temporary. Lawmakers and lawyers will eventually bring us back to business as usual.

Thanks, Bob! Down the rabbit hole I go...😀

Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham The best book I've read all year. Bar none. The narrative takes you through the political climate that NASA faced post-Apollo, and explains how the agency found itself journeying into the prospect of commercial spaceflight via the Space Shuttle program in the 1970s/1980s. Of course, the real tension is between the contractors, the agency, and the wildly-optimistic launch schedule leading up to the Challenger disaster, safety be damned. The subtext of that tension is that the Government was looking to compete the next contract for the rockets, and the intense pressure Morton Thiokol executives, who recognized the threat of competition, placed upon its engineers to meet that schedule at any costs. With abnormally cold temperatures descending upon Cape Canaveral prior to the launch, there were concerns about the reliability of the O-rings when the thermostat reading dropped below 50 F. Temps fell to the low-20s. MT's engineers voiced their concerns. MT's management wanted to plunge ahead, regardless. This excerpt, in which MT General Manager & VP Jerry Mason prompted MT VP of Engineering Bob Lund for his vote on endorsing the launch of Challenger the following day, was sobering: "Now Bob, I need you take off your engineering hat and put on your management hat. We've done all we can from an engineering point, and now we've got to make a tough decision. And as a manager, you've got to do that." Compelling. Infuriating. Tragic.

All the best, Bob. Hope you feel better soon.

Mastering Communication at Work, Second Edition: How to Lead, Manage, and Influence, by Ethan F. Becker and Jon Wortmann. Dr. Becker gave a wonderful presentation on communication at an NCMA Workshop I attended recently. He's a professional speaker by trade, and the book itself touches upon the pillars for good communication. The chapter on ethos was a revelation.

It's too late now, but for the next FFP contract, it's a good idea to bake in the risk of wage increases into your proposal. Do you incorporate Forward Pricing Rate Agreements in your proposals?

Yes! Exactly! That it was my original question - can I have a copy of it? The response was, essentially, "We have a new policy on place, and we're no longer allowed to provide conformed copies to the contractor." My follow up was the "why?"

Convenience. Anecdotally, having a conformed copy of the contract significantly reduces confusion on our side, especially when 50+ mods have been issued since the original award. It's not a huge deal for me to track; ask an engineer, a field technician, or an auditor, and they might give you a different answer. I've been told by a Government counterpart that generating a conformed copy literally just takes the push of a button. Anyway, I don't want to belabor this issue. I appreciate the questions to my question. I suppose my question has been answered. Thank you, all.

We have a copy of the original contract (circa 2 years ago) and copies of all the mods. However, having a copy of the contract through the latest mod that includes exercised options, latest FAR clauses (and deleting ones that were removed or superseded), current Govt staff (if the original PCO and/or COR have transitioned off) is extremely helpful for the team to have. I've asked for and received these "latest & greatest" copies of the contract from other contracting offices in the past without any pushback whatsoever. I'm just curious why a contracting office would have a problem providing one.

Is there some new DoD policy or guidance for why a Government contracting office will not provide a conformed copy of a contract to the contractor? I reached out to an office recently for a conformed copy of the contract, and was told they received guidance they cannot provide them to contractors anymore. I asked for the rationale behind the guidance about a week ago...and am still waiting for a response.

A long-standing Government customer of ours recently shared a draft SOW (we're in a sole-source environment) for a forthcoming large and lengthy production contract, and I could not help but think of that SOW as I read these sentences. Some things never change. Thank you for sharing this story, Bob!