Letter: FCW should ask leadership hard questions
A reader writes that Federal Computer Week does a disservice by not asking tougher questions of leadership.
Regarding "Leadership by the book"
I'm
used to the lovefest articles on current leadership in
government-focused publications such as FCW and Government Executive.
However, you do a disservice to those of us who work in the field when
you throw softballs in an interview instead of asking the hard
questions.
I feel much safer knowing that [Dave] Wennergren
and Defense Department information technology "leadership" spend their
time reading leadership books. Perhaps if the DOD IT staff read the
technical literature required to stay proficient in their fields, we
wouldn't be threatened by old viruses nor restricted from using memory
sticks and other common devices.
It's interesting that he
references [Stephen] Covey's "Speed of Trust" because with all the
misinformation spread regarding the current memory stick debacle, its
unlikely that the smart developer guys in the DOD will ever trust IT
leadership again.
All we've gained from his leadership is
mountains of paperwork and bureaucracy that cost the warfighter
billions and do nothing to improve our security posture. Beltway
bureaucrats scrutinize our software purchases in an attempt to save
pennies while we spend millions in re-training developers, rewriting
perfectly good code, and writing silly justifications.
Wennergren,
[Navy Chief Information Officer] Robert Carey, and [Vice Adm. H. Denby]
Starling all deserve to lose their jobs over the ineptitude leading up
to recent crises.
Anonymous
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