The FAA is looking for help from industry to transform the organizational culture of its Air Traffic Organization. With a workforce of 35,000 and a history of complex cultural dynamics, it will be a challenge. But FAA's success in this endeavor could serve as an example to other agencies.

The need for a formal organizational change strategy has been building at FAA for at least a decade. In the 1996 GAO report,"Aviation Acquisition: A Comprehensive Strategy is Needed for Culture Change at FAA," GAO sited culture as a significant factor in the 50 - 511% cost increases, 4-year schedule overruns, lack of cooperation, and communication stovepipes plaguing the agency. (By the way, FAA partially blamed acquisition regulations for the cost and schedule issues, spurring Congress to exempt FAA from the FAR and allow it to create its own set of regulations).

FAA's cultural issues are not unique. Conversations with many government employees highlight a pervasive network of hierarchical and bureaucratic systems, narrow job functions, and resistance to change.

With the incremental movement towards acquisition reform, I wonder if Congressional committee members have considered the role of culture within the IT project failures plaguing government. Will new acquisition rules solve the problems as expected if organizational culture and change management aren't part of the equation at the agency level?