FedPitch is just one of many ways that individuals, both inside and outside of the federal government, can offer suggestions for improvement. FedPitch isn’t the first and only method for this exchange of ideas.

FedPitch is not simply “a singular event.” The process doesn’t end when the winner is announced on May 7. The sponsors of the competition have committed in the effort to try to implement the winning idea. For example, the FedPitch winner will be invited to a dinner event to discuss the idea in further detail with the judges and others and to explore more specific ways to implement the idea. In addition, if FedPitch 2008 is successful in generating innovative ideas and seeing movement toward improvement of federal workforce management, we hope that FedPitch will be an annual event.

The “counterpoint” states, “If the federal government is just now getting to this point of hosting a brainstorming event, my eyeballs do roll back in my head…” To clarify, FedPitch is receiving no funding or formal support from any agency of the U.S. government. FedPitch is being initiated by members of 13L, all of whom are unpaid volunteers.

I generally agree with the point that fundamentally organizations do not naturally have the capacity to take a good idea from thought to action and that brainstorming and idea generation should be part of the culture of the organization—a process. Although I must caveat that I am not a judge for the upcoming FedPitch competition, I would guess that the judges might indeed look favorably upon a pitch that actually proposes to make changes to structures and/or processes so that such ideas will not remain isolated from the daily work of the organization and leadership of the federal workforce. There is nothing in the official rules for the FedPitch competition that would directly prohibit such a pitch. The deadline to submit a proposal for this year’s competition is April 18!