Letter: FCW should ask leadership hard questions

By

A reader writes that Federal Computer Week does a disservice by not asking tougher questions of leadership.

Regarding "Leadership by the book"

I'm used to the lovefest articles on current leadership in government-focused publications such as FCW and Government Executive. However, you do a disservice to those of us who work in the field when you throw softballs in an interview instead of asking the hard questions.

I feel much safer knowing that [Dave] Wennergren and Defense Department information technology "leadership" spend their time reading leadership books. Perhaps if the DOD IT staff read the technical literature required to stay proficient in their fields, we wouldn't be threatened by old viruses nor restricted from using memory sticks and other common devices.

It's interesting that he references [Stephen] Covey's "Speed of Trust" because with all the misinformation spread regarding the current memory stick debacle, its unlikely that the smart developer guys in the DOD will ever trust IT leadership again.

All we've gained from his leadership is mountains of paperwork and bureaucracy that cost the warfighter billions and do nothing to improve our security posture. Beltway bureaucrats scrutinize our software purchases in an attempt to save pennies while we spend millions in re-training developers, rewriting perfectly good code, and writing silly justifications.

Wennergren, [Navy Chief Information Officer] Robert Carey, and [Vice Adm. H. Denby] Starling all deserve to lose their jobs over the ineptitude leading up to recent crises.

Anonymous

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