Page 18 - FCW, September 30, 2016

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get something done, the other wants to be somebody.
pocket and get out
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2511 WAYS YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN WASHINGTON
Your predecessor was
far smarter than you
give her/him credit for.
Trust his/her decisions and move on from them.
— Roger Baker, former CIO at the Department of Veterans Affairs and Agilex executive
BY
BOB WOODS
1. You see a tagline that reads “Acronyms Are Us.”
2. Two types of people run for political office: One wants Put your ego in your
3. Lateness to a meeting is inversely proportional to the distance traveled to get there.
4. The highest ranking person in the room is never late. After all, the event doesn’t happen until he or she arrives.
5. Washington is hell and politicians will do anything to
get there. ON CULTURE
11Culture truly does
eat strategy
every day.
Learn and adapt to the culture of your organization.
— Kay Kapoor, president of AT&T Global Public Sector Solutions
12Always determine the community of
interest for your
project.
Find the individuals who will assert influence and their positions relative
to your success.Then work with them with focus and determination. Know the terrain, work the floor, and know who is out there.
— Scott Hastings, partner at Deep Water Point and former CIO of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
6. You realize that you will always find someone in town who is richer, smarter or better connected than you are. Worse, they are ahead in all three categories and went to better schools.
7. You realize commuters on trains, subways and buses don’t want to talk or hear your life story.You’re not in Kansas, Dorothy.
8. Your new friend uses the phrase “Where I come from” constantly.
9.You find that jerks are spring-loaded. Get rid of one and another pops up.
10. A price on a house puts you into sticker shock. 11. You cross Memorial Bridge and see naked women
on one end and horses’ asses on the other.
Welcome to Washington, D.C. It will be a great city when it’s finished.
— Bob Woods is president of Topside Consulting Group and former commissioner of the General Services Administration’s Federal Technology Service.
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— Scott Hastings, partner at Deep Water Point and former CIO at Immigration and Customs Enforcement