Management

Everyday ‘federal’ MacGyvers matter too

Letter to the editor: The White House shouldn\'t overlook the career staff who keep the government running as it gets excited about the new, shiny people at USD...

Federal News Network Staff

May 4, 2015 4:36 am

3 min read

Dear Editor:

Well known for using for using whatever he had at hand — duct tape, paper clips, hairpins or even potatoes inserted into the tailpipes of cars — fictional character MacGyver is a great metaphor for today’s public service professional. Hidden behind the headlines that focus on extreme stories or partisan issues, the non-partisan public service isn’t one to get attention unless something goes significantly wrong.

Yet there are individuals who chose a lot where every day is about problem solving, about overcoming institutional resistance to new ideas and finding opportunity to build connections and consensus across legacy institutions. Unlike start-ups that can try, fail, try again, fail and raise a new round of venture capital as they pursue new ideas in our changing work and changing marketplaces, existing agencies have their budgets locked-in, often a year-or-more in advance. Such agencies must make due with whatever duct tape, paper clips, or hairpins they have at hand to experiment and adapt to our changing world while also making sure all the metaphorical “trains run on time” for existing endeavors.

What the public doesn’t know is there are different flavors of public services. There are those who sign-up for an initiative backed by the presidential administration. These could be political appointees or those operating in presidentially-backed efforts, such as the recent 18F and U.S. Digital Services initiatives, which receive White House-level visibility, recruitment of talent and often have exceptions made to how fast they can hire, procure and get the resources they need to get things done.

Such efforts also include the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which started four years ago without the burden of legacy infrastructure, legacy missions, or legacy investments — and was given the ability to hire anyone from around the country with a 30 percent higher pay ceiling than general staff in government.

While undoubtedly most people who sign-up for these efforts do care as much as their counter-parts who aren’t operating in such administration-championed efforts, it should be noted that these efforts aren’t the MacGyvers of public service — they have a very visible and very prominent champion for them willing to make exceptions to how much they’re paid, hired, and how they procure.

Everyday MacGyvers exist in the other agencies that are not part of a presidentially-backed efforts. Often these are the ones that are the most needed to keep the country operating beyond whatever services the private sector provides, to include our defense forces or infectious disease control. Given their importance, everyday MacGyvers serve agencies that might be under intense congressional scrutiny from both parties in where they should go — and they serve without a partisan agenda.

Their focus is, however best they can with whatever resources they have, keep their agencies running while “under fire” and help creatively transform them for the challenges ahead. Like startups they’re hungry individuals — creative out of necessity and driven to make a difference. They know their challenges might never be known, and they know that each day will bring a new set of fun challenges, yet this is precisely what gets them out of bed in the morning.

—Anonymous federal official