I think I agree with Andy. Its complexity is the key. There are three mandatory elements for me to get engaged and have a successful outcome. First of all, you need the cross-functional team, as Kirsten suggested, the slot team, the tiger team. The number one before that, I think, is that you need to have a really clear description of the outcome you want—a clear articulation of the problem, and a clear definition of the outcome.
As a leader, you have to do that, and it's difficult sometimes for leaders to get that right on the first go-round. We refer to it as a “strategic intent”: we start with something called strategic intent and we say that we intend to get this outcome. Then you engage this high-calibre team and you see if you can get that outcome.
The next thing you need is a very fast feedback loop. You need to do something small with a fast feedback loop to get that outcome.
The next thing that we'll run into in government is authorization or enablement of the team. We've done a whole bunch of procurements, so we've seen all the different procurement types, all the stuff we've done for the last 20 years. We put a label on it, but when you throw it into that culture, it all comes out the same. You do a common procurement process. The vendor comes in and works with the government, and what they do is create a requirements definition, so you're still back in the old game. You still haven't defined your problem up front and you haven't defined the outcome. You're just going right to a requirements definition.
There are three pieces for me. One is authority: who's in charge? Because I'm in a stovepipe organization and I have this stovepipe and that stovepipe, if I want to get something done inside the stovepipe, I need authorization at the top of that stovepipe. If that's a director general and I can do everything within that DG realm, I can complete the project. If, however, I have to deal with another DG or another ADM, I need to get up to a DM and get across in order to clear the path, because there are always constraints. There are people in government who come out of the woodwork when life changes.