Innovation in Government Business
Hosted by: Strategic Institute for Innovation in Government Contracting - Few subjects have been studied more than federal acquisition for the development and delivering of new capability and innovation. Since the 1980's the system has empirically and anecdotally demonstrated abysmal performance. The best and brightest have proffered solutions and Congress has followed with polices and mandates to encourage these. Leadership, specifically within the DoD has chosen to ignore these mandates. This is a rare case, where polices are far more advanced than practice, yet the stagnation continues and even gets worse. This podcast is for those interested in solving our Nation's critical technological challenges, by offering solutions, lessons learned, and highlighting the incredible potential of Other Transactions Agreements for fielding new advanced capability. If you are a federal acquisition professional or industry partner we invite you to explore the art of the possible.
Episodes
61 episodes
Defense Acquisition Superheroes: Rise to the Challenge and Bring Home the Win
In this podcast, Strategic Institute highlights the opportunities, mandated by Congress (2018 & 2023) and now the President (2025), to use flexible acquisition authorities and create teams (Special Acquisition Forces) to explore, experiment...
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Season 3
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Episode 5
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34:52
It's me. Hi! I'm the Problem... Defense Acquisition ANTI-HEROES
In this podcast episode, Strategic Institute, discusses why defense acquisition, a well-known weakness in the process for R&D and delivering new advanced capabilities, stays the course despite urgent needs and mandates. A problem deca...
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Season 3
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Episode 4
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34:30
More TEAMS Less BUREAUCRACY to Improve Defense Acquisition & What are OT Condominiums?
In this episode, Strategic Institute, highlights their long standing message of teaming for success. It is widely believed that family is the essential building block of society/civilization, just like a team is for any significant endeav...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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28:13
What is the Purpose of Other Transactions & Why 'so-called OT Consortia suck!
In this podcast episode, Strategic Institute gets back to basics, asking what is the purpose of Other Transactions, why were they created, what is their 'mission'? The answer, while misunderstood by many, is simple and clear.Additionally...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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35:52
The DOGE Effect on Defense Acquisition - Opportunity or Nightmare?
In this episode, Strategic Institute, discusses the opportunity to make improvements in defense acquisition for R&D and delivering new advanced capabilities by recognizing and jettisoning systems and processes that have become institu...
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37:30
Don't be a JAG-off | How Government Lawyers can Enable Innovation
When it comes to innovating federal business practices for R&D and delivering new capabilities a frequently identified roadblock to bettering processes are government lawyers. Government lawyers tend to err on the side of the bureaucr...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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37:24
New Administration - New Acquisition System?
We're back! Strategic Institute dusts itself to help off to once again help affect positive change in Federal Acquisition for R&D and the delivering of new advanced capabilities.In this episode we talk paradigm shifts, institu...
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33:13
New Other Transactions Guide: A Retreat from Innovation
The new (2023) Other Transactions Guide was waylaid by the DoD acquisition bureaucracy for a few years. Now out, the new guide, as expected, reflects business-as-usual thinking and a desire to limit the potential of these flexible authori...
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Season 2
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Episode 15
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34:30
DoD: You have License to Think
A June 2023 Government Accountability Office report shows that DoD has a plethora of flexible authorities to use for more effectively pursuing and advancing knowledge and capability tha...
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Season 2
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Episode 14
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34:53
The Narrow Mindedness of Defense Acquisition
Given the pitiful state of defense acquisition for R&D and delivering new capability defers risk to the warfighter, wastes taxpayer funding, shrinks the industrial base, steals from the future, and is an obvious threat to national security,...
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Season 2
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Episode 13
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31:23
DoD's S&T Strategy 2023 is a "wish list" not strategy
OUSD R/E recently published "National Defense Science and Technology Strategy 2023" that contains ZERO consequential strategy and parrots what others have said ad nauseam. The document correctly identifies that there is a very seri...
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30:29
Unsticking DoD's Acquisition Process - easier done than talking about it FOREVER!
In this episode Rick Dunn, former DARPA General Counsel, talks with TC Hoot, a long time DoD Acquisition Program Manager, currently Senior Program Manager at MISI, a Partnership Intermediary serving U.S. Cyber C...
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Season 2
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Episode 12
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30:01
Is DoD's Acquisition System for R&D Institutionally Corrupt?
Most people have a good idea of what fraud, waste, and abuse looks like, but few recognize institutional corruption, because it's "normal". From Harvard's, Safra Center of Ethics: "Institutional corruption is manifest when t...
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Season 2
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Episode 11
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30:08
Effectively Utilizing Other Transactions: A Program Manager's Perspective
In this episode Rick Dunn with the Strategic Institute, talks with Maj. Ben Leaf currently assigned to USSOCOM about his experiences utilizing Other Transactions Agreements to deliver excellent results. Ben discusses his experience that h...
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Season 2
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Episode 10
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40:08
WWII Pacific Air War and Modern Defense Acquisition
In this episode, Strategic Institute's Founder, Rick Dunn hosts Professional WWII Historian, Justin Taylan, to discuss how major events are effected by numerous small events and decisions behind the scenes, as is the a case for acquisitio...
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Season 2
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Episode 9
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48:07
Accelerating Acquisition Innovation with Bill Greenwalt
In this episode Rick Dunn, former DARPA General Counsel and pioneer of DoD's Other Transactions (OTs) authority, talks with Bill Greenwalt, a long time Senate Staffer and former Deputy Undersecretary, who was instrumental in the creation of Mid...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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29:46
What are Other Transactions authorities for?
In the episode Strategic Institute cuts through DoD's myth and lore to highlight the reason why Other Transactions were created and what problems they are intended to solve. Other Transactions authorities (OTs) have realized incre...
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28:17
The March of Folly: DoD Acquisition for R&D and New Capability
Folly: 1) Lack of good sense, understanding, or foresight 2) a costly and foolish undertaking; unwise investment or expenditure.Few subjects have been the focus of more study than DoD acquisition for R&D and the deliv...
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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24:22
5 Principles of Other Transactions
In this podcast episode Strategic Institute discusses the five principles for using Other Transactions (OTs) authorities for federal R&D. 5 Principles of OTs 1. OTs = Flexibility2. If it's R&D, u...
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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25:00
DoD Lawyers Enabling Business Innovation for R&D
In this episode Rick Dunn talks with LTC Dean Korsak from the Air Force Research Laboratory, Information Directorate about the critical role government lawyers can take to enable business process innovation, using flexible contracts, to better ...
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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35:20
ACQUISITION BUREAUCRACY STRIKES BACK
In this episode Strategic Institute discusses the forces pushing back against innovation in business processes for federal R&D. Other Transactions authorities are flexible contracts that permit the government to ex...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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29:38
Congress Says Get Educated on Other Transactions, Again!
In this episode Strategic Institute discusses the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in regard to acquisition for R&D, and specifically the report language, "strongly encouraging" DoD to educate the workforce in flexible acquisi...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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31:14
Year End: State of Innovative Acquisition and Education for Federal R&D
In this year end episode Strategic Institute discusses what improvements have been made to educate and support the federal workforce to make positive changes (innovation) for better outcomes from investments in federal R&D. Bu...
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Season 1
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Episode 35
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28:25
Strategic Capital: Utilizing Private Funding to Improve Outcomes of Federal R&D
In this episode Strategic Institute's Rick Dunn and special guests Col. Mark "Puck" Mykleby and Sam Moyer discuss opportunities and potential challenges that wait ahead for the newly announced Department of Defense, Office of Strat...
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Season 1
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Episode 34
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40:09
3rd Party Financing for Federal R&D and Innovation
In this episode Strategic Institute discusses how tapping outside funding, non taxpayer sources, can benefit federal R&D and innovation programs.We applaud the idea behind the recently announced Department of Defense, Office o...
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Season 1
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Episode 33
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29:13