March-April 2008 A PUBLICATION OF THE Some photos appearing in this publication may be digitally enhanced. Vol XXXVII, No.2, DAU 200 2 16 Transforming the Opportunity Future of Business Management Processes Edmund H. Conrow, Elizabeth McGrath, Robert N. Charette Principal Deputy Under While opportunity Secretary of Defense for management is a use- Business Transformation ful approach during DoD’s leader in imple- program definition, a menting the depart- deeper examination of ment’s continuous OM indicates a num- process improvement/ ber of limitations and Lean Six Sigma efforts concerns that may not talks about business only lessen its potential transformation efforts. effectiveness, but may cause more problems than are solved. 7 20 Enlisting Lean Six Business Systems Mod- Sigma in the Army ernization Acquisition Process David J. Falvey, Austin Leon Smith, Randy Wil- T. Huangfu, C. David son, Tiffani Burke Carlson The Army is using Lean The program manage- Six Sigma to standard- ment office, the desig- ize financial processes nated operational test and reduce cycle time. agency, and the Office Find out how one Army of the Director, Opera- acquisition group ap- tional Test and Evalua- plied Lean Six Sigma tion formed a success- to the processes of the ful partnership that Army’s CARD—Cost brought the Business Analysis Requirements Systems Modernization Document. to operational form. 12 24 Avoiding the “Army of Krog’s New Weapon Professional Amateurs” Maj. Dan Ward, Maj. Paradox Chris Quaid, Capt. Gabe Doug McCallum Mounce DoD experts know A club that will only their jobs, then may be work on small or reassigned and have to sleeping mammoths. learn other jobs from A starfighter designed scratch. Yet by develop- for a prior enemy ing effective knowledge force. Join Krog as he management as a core explores problems leader competency, with weapon systems DoD can end this designs and evokes the paradox of employing power of AWESOME. professional amateurs. E D EFENSE ACQUISITION UNIVERSITY Published by the Letters to the Editor may be e-mailed to DEFENSE ACQUISITION UNIVERSITY datl(at)dau(dot)mil or mailed to the address in the next column. (Please use correct e-mail proto- Under Secretary of Defense col. We spell out to prevent spam generated by the (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics) Defense AT&L (ISSN 1547-5476), formerly address in the online magazine.) John J. Young Jr. Program Manager, is published bimonthly by Deputy Under Secretary of Defense the DAU Press and is free to all U.S. and foreign (Acquisition & Technology) Article preparation/submission guidelines are national subscribers. Periodical postage is paid at Dr. James I. 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Do credit the author and Defense AT&L. Editorial Support not include your rank, grade, service, or other TSgt James Smith, USAF personal identifiers. SPC Kelly Lowery, USA 28 The Abiding Cultural ALSO Problem Gary E. Christle Climate Change, Demographics, Technology, and Despite numerous Globalization _________________________________35 studies conducted on the defense acquisition process, despite calls Shaping Industry Interaction Through Secure Infor- for change, there has mation Sharing _______________________________38 been no real progress in improving the acqui- Commanders Institute New Standards for Quality sition process. There Medical Data _________________________________41 needs to be better trust and accountability and a new business model DEPARTMENTS that includes an annual operating plan. From Our Readers ______________________________46 32 In the News ____________________________________50 How Healthy is Your Project? Spotlight on DAU Learning Resources ___________64 Wayne Turk Is your project healthy Career Development ___________________________66 or are there “germs” causing problems? The Conferences, Workshops, & Symposia ___________68 project management assessment can help Acquisition & Logistics Excellence _______________76 you find out, but you AT&L Workforce—Key Leadership Changes______85 need to keep an open mind on all findings. Surfing the Net _________________________________89 Here are some tips on how a good assessment should proceed. 1 Defense AT&L: March-April 2008 DEFENSE AT&L INTERVIEW Transforming the Future of Business Processes Elizabeth McGrath Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Business Transformation cquisition, finance and accounting, program A management—Elizabeth McGrath has experi- My primary responsibilities include executing the de- enced it all, and her skills are helping to play a partment’s primary governance body for business trans- role in transforming the way the Department of formation, the Defense Business Systems Management Defense does business. Currently the principal Committee (DBSMC); implementing DoD’s continuous Adeputy under secretary of defense for business transfor- process improvement/Lean Six Sigma (CPI/LSS) efforts; mation, McGrath has previously served as the deputy and co-leading, with the director of national intelligence, director for systems integration with the Defense Finance an initiative to reform the government-wide security clear- and Accounting Service. Throughout her career, she has ance process. More broadly, I am responsible for ensur- had a variety of program management roles culminating ing that the many diverse aspects of the department’s in program executive office-level oversight responsibility. business transformation efforts are aligned and working McGrath talked to Defense AT&L in December 2007 about together toward our shared goal of agile, adaptive, flexible, DoD’s transformation efforts and the challenges it faces and accountable business operations. in developing new enterprise-wide strategies. Q Q Can you describe what must be done in order to ensure a You’ve served as the principal successful DoD business transformation effort? deputy under secretary of de- fense for business transforma- A tion since the position was Fundamentally, business transformation requires a num- created on Feb. 3, 2006. Can ber of things—leadership commitment, strong investment you provide an overview of your roles and responsi- bilities? Defense AT&L: March-April 2008 2 management, an active governance structure, and a sound transformation at all levels of the department’s hierarchy. enterprise-level strategy. Deputy Secretary of Defense Gor- The department has tried to create an environment in don England continues to have an active personal role in which each level of the DoD organizational structure— defense business transformation. He has been, in many component, enterprise, or other—can focus on those ways, acting in the capacity of a chief management officer requirements specific to its level, with oversight and as- throughout his tenure, most notably in his role as the chair sistance provided by the Office of Business Transforma- of the DBSMC, the overarching governance board for the tion and the Business Transformation Agency. Addition- department’s business mission area. ally, we have focused on bringing together a world-class workforce—using special hiring authority granted to us Recently, the department codified these CMO functions in by Congress—that is led by experienced business profes- a directive that states that the deputy secretary, as CMO, sionals. shall: • Ensure department-wide capability to carry out the Q strategic plan of the DoD in support of national secu- You’ve mentioned Lean Six Sigma, which is one of the hot- rity objectives test programs DoD organizations are adopting. As of July • Ensure the core business missions of the department 2007, 64 percent of DoD organizations were applying this are optimally aligned to support the department’s methodology to their