Service awards give partnerships their due

The annual Service to AmericaMedals, or Sammies, were awardedSept. 16, and once again, theawards' sponsor ? the Partnership forPublic Service ? succeeded in provingthat the civil service continues to produceexceptional leaders doing exceptionalwork, despite the rhetoric to thecontrary and the many obstacles in theirway.The awards are given to civil servantsin a wide range of fields ? includinghealth, law, technology, security and theenvironment. They come at a particularlyimportant time. Even as the presidentialcandidates talk passionately aboutthe need to enhance the national commitmentto volunteer and career service,the federal workforce faces enormouschallenges. Demographic trends remaindeeply troubling, and few efforts of real,sustainable value are being undertakento empower or enable employees to pursueinnovation or move aggressively toaddress the problems the governmentfaces.That challenge is borne out in theProfessional Services Council's biennialsurvey of federal acquisition leaders,which will be released in late October.Many of the same issues highlighted inthe 2006 survey have emerged again:workforce capacity, lack of employeedevelopment and strong concerns thatrisk and innovation are being inhibitedrather than fostered in government. TheSammy winners' ability to accomplishall that they have in this difficult, oftenharsh environment offers an evengreater testament to their achievements.The Sammies also offer a valuable lessonabout government. One of last year'swinners, Frazer Lockhart, the EnergyDepartment program manager who ledthe cleanup effort at the Rocky Flatsnuclear weapons plant in Colorado,referred to his team's achievement as"an example of what happens when youput the best of government togetherwith the best of industry." Again thisyear, a number of the winners led criticalinitiatives that delivered importantand valuable resultsin partnership withthe private sector ?from tackling globalwarming to preventinginfection,from improvingmedical care forreturning veteransto enhancing opportunitiesfor womenin Afghanistan.The winner of the2008 FederalEmployee of theYear Medal wasRichard Greene, theU.S. Agency for InternationalDevelopment official responsible forleading the Bush administration'santi-malaria initiative, which is beingimplemented by a diverse array ofgovernment, industry and nongovernmentalentities. The initiative offers yetanother validation of Lockhart's observationabout the power of public/privatepartnerships.We should continue to pay close heedto that lesson. Most discussions aboutthe current or future state of the governmentare binary: We have too manycontractors or we don't have enough.The Sammies remind us that the realquestion is far more nuanced: How dowe build the most effective organizationthat has the right mix of contractor andfederal resources and the right managementand leadership to achieve the government'smany missions? Answeringthat question requires realistic assessmentsof a program'sneeds and challengesand an equally realisticassessment of theavailability of andcompetition for scarceworkforce skills. Inother words, the roleof the private sectoris not an either/orquestion. It is oneof balance.It's time to gobeyond the debates ofyesterday and focus onthe realities of today.The face of governmenthas changed and will continue toevolve. The Sammy winners deserve thecountry's thanks for what they havedone and continue to do. Their accomplishmentsare truly exceptional. And inmany ways, they underscore the needfor more, not less, partnership.