hack the bureaucracy

Bringing geeks into government won’t make a difference if they can’t crack the code on bureaucracies (and the politicos and government workers who run them). A hyper focus on technical problem solving by newcomers to the government space will have limited success and may actually do harm, if not matched with empathetic skills and an understanding of the sometimes perverse incentives facing the millions of U.S. career government employees. Don’t lose heart! True innovators embrace constraints -- technical, temporal, resource, etc. Working with and within governments brings its own set of constraints. Once you understand them, innovation and technological change becomes easier, if not easy. Identifying and engaging early with the keepers of the status quo works much better than a stealth approach. Bringing your tech ninja skills to government can be great, if you come with eyes wide open. This session will open your eyes.