Federal programs promoting innovative technology and acquisition methods are getting a lot of ink, and even some traction, these days as the government looks for ways to keep its technological edge on everything from cyber to national defense applications.  These are generally good things and we don’t want to dismiss them.  Neither, however, should we blithely dismiss people with experience.  Sometimes there is, truly, no substitute for it.

When Dell went through its first set of growing pains Michael Dell had enough sense to bring in some “gray hairs” who could bring focus and business perspective to the tech breakthroughs his younger engineers were developing.  The mix worked well.  Experienced managers were able to bring the direction and discipline necessary, even as the new tech kept flowing.

For government this means making sure you have “old timers” around who can tell you if that road your about to go down has been tried before, and abandoned for some pretty good reasons.  Category Management, for example, can sound an awful like federal IT under the Brooks Act if OMB isn’t careful.  At GSA, it’d be good to have some additional senior people around who know what successful acquisition innovation looks like to guide the energy of the new leadership team.

New ideas, combined with experienced know how, can be an effective mix.  Without the right balance of each, though, government policies run the real risk of running in circles.