Improving the Organizational Responsiveness of Federal Agencies Confronting Turbulent Environments

Our U.S. Federal government faces significant obstacles in effectively connecting the dots of knowledge held in the minds of numerous individuals working for different organizational units. Resulting from increasingly turbulent global events, challenges exist in knowing new knowledge – in addition to knowing timely, relevant, and truth knowledge. What others thought to be true may change. Further, as events unfold, challenges exist putting all the pieces of knowledge together to form a relevant and complete picture. In this age of rapidly changing world events and increasing knowledge-overload, no one individual harbors sufficient knowledge to either mitigate negative outcomes or capitalize on positive opportunities. Knowledge exchanges in these government agencies must transcend physical group proximity, social networks, and the institutions themselves. Entrusted with the responsibility of protecting their civilian populous and maintaining stability, national governments face tremendous challenges in addressing both the increasing amount of new knowledge and the need for timely, relevant knowledge. Workers comprising multiple government agencies must search through, prioritize, and potentially act upon knowledge of both national opportunities and threats