In this episode Strategic Institute talks about recent Congressional language that seeks to broaden the aperture when it comes to who and what qualifies for OTA awards, while at the same time the bureaucracy is attempting to narrow the thinking around OTAs and kneecap their potential. Who should be served, the will of 'the people' as represented by Congress -or- should the bureaucracy take precedent? Also discussed are clear solutions using OTAs, current lack of incentives, who should ...

In this podcast episode, Strategic Institute, discusses what has been largely missing in the attempts to use mandated flexible authorities to improve federal acquisition for R&D and delivering new capabilities - KNOWLEDGE. In the rush to use these authorities as a 'work-around' 'hack' 'easy button' or turn them into a process an important steps have been missed. Namely the acquisition of knowledge through education, exploration and experimentation. This has occurred for...

In this podcast episode, Strategic Institute, discusses applying critical thinking to federal acquisition processes for R&D and delivering new capabilities. Featured are ideas of using flexible acquisition authorities to explore new business approaches and collaborative arrangements, the notion that you can't solve a problem with the same thinking that created it, what defines intelligent action, being trapped in institutional corruption, and finally how the Space Shuttle progr...

In this episode, Strategic Institute, reiterates their main points: that focus on new concepts and ideas in 'teaming' to make the best use of talent and better fulfill mission goals, and applying critical thinking to the use of flexible acquisition authorities. These ideas have been broadly rejected by bureaucrats and insiders who vehemently protect the status-quo of 'teams' remaining in their silos fulfilling their functionary duties, keeping them separated, and applying compliance ori...

In this episode, Strategic Institute discusses the unique perceptions of contracting, management, teaming, and time etc. within federal acquisition for R&D and for delivering new advanced capabilities. Federal processes operate under their own logic, divorced from common and broader methods known outside of the ‘industry’. It seems, those who have been indoctrinated into these systems ‘insiders’ have had their ideas and perceptions molded to an arcane regulatory system focused...

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 with new and different business approaches and collaborative arrangements to improve speed and deliver better solutions and value for the warfighter, taxpayer, natsec and posterity. The flexibility Other Transactions Agreements (OTA) allow is just tha...

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 decades in the making, DoD does not acknowledge that systems no longer prioritize mission and purpose, but instead comply with diktats from bureaucratic and special interests, penalizing outcomes. Other Transactions offer the flexibility for an alternative...

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 endeavor or enterprise. Federal Acquisition by-and-large does not seem to respect how critical the team is in contributing to success of a program or project. To say that the DoD and FedGov need to revamp their philosophy in regard to assembling e...

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, we tackle the 'so-called' OT consortia issue, which generally speaking, are NOT consortia, may not be legal, and have an obvious conflict of interest problem, among others. BUT they are extremely convenient and easy for federal contracting and management of...

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 institutionally corrupt, that do not serve its 'purpose', its 'why' or the reason it exists. How will the defense bureaucratic-industrial complex respond to a renewed push to clean up, streamline, and improve how it operates to better deliver for the warfighte...

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 bureaucratic myth and lore over actual law, mandate, and need. In a recent conformation hearing, the new Secretary of Defense used the term JAG-off to describe lawyers and other mid to senior level bureaucrats who put their own career traject...

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, institutional corruption and other fun stuff.Let's raise consciousness, increase imagination and really come through and deliver for a higher cause.Article: New Administration: New Acquisition System?https://strategicinstitute.org/other-transactions/new-administration...

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 authorities before folks even bother to understand them. The new guide contains misinformation, eradicates emphasis on smart interdisciplinary teaming and upfront problem-solving, and will serve to further narrow thinking... the Empire Strikes Back! ...

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 that are going unused or little used. Why? In this episode try to answer that. What these authorities have in common, when it comes to R&D, is they give the government a lot of flexibility and the workforce license to think. However, this is antithetical to how things are currently done and...

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, one would think that there would be serious and concerted efforts to change it. You would be wrong! In order for something like that to happen, someone in charge would have to be responsible or held accountable. As witnessed, only subordinates are ̶t̶h...

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 serious problem with the government system for delivering the fruits of taxpayer funded R&D efforts. It identifies point A and points to B, but offers absolutely no practical guidance or ideas of how to get there. In the case of contracting ...

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 Command, about how to move out on acquisition and business process innovation to more efficiently and effectively deliver knowledge and solutions resulting from defense R&D efforts and spent resources.This is an intelligent discussion offering solutions to common and well known prob...

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 there is a systemic and strategic influence which is legal, or even currently ethical, that undermines the institution’s effectiveness by diverting it from its purpose or weakening its ability to achieve its purpose, including, to the extent relevant to its purp...

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 highlights the importance of the team, open mindedness, and lawyers who enable business process innovation. This is story of how goal oriented action produces positive outcomes.

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 acquisition and R&D. For those who like to nerd-out to the WWII Pacific Air War and present day defense acquisition, this is your podcast.