The Foreign Service Journal, February 2006

F O C U S 32 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 6 present, drafting and knowledge- sharing are largely stovepiped along the lines laid out by the for- mal organizational hierarchy, the connected boxes with which we are all too familiar. Incumbents with specific functional or geo- graphic portfolios work in a large- ly isolated fashion. Reporting offi- cers are frequently unaware of, or unable to easily access, relevant expertise near at hand within the department itself or at other posts, much less outside of the agency. That having been said, there are already good examples within the department today of what can be accomplished. • The Bureau of Consular Affairs is a leader in col- laborative technology, using specialized software to link several hundred officers around the world in its Fraud Prevention Program. • Another example is provided by the Bureau of Intelligence and Research’s Humanitarian Informa- tion Unit. Setting up a collaborative Web-based work- space the day after the Asian tsunami hit, the HIU played a leadership role for other agencies as well as private-sector NGOs by providing an information clearing house and knowledge repository. • The Bureau of Human Resources’ Employee Profile Plus database has been used to identify officers with work and language skills in emergency situations such as the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. This innovation was recently recognized with a President’s Quality Award, the top management honor for execu- tive branch agencies. Successful Adaptation Is Urgent Foreign Service officers are expected to be instant experts in our domestic or foreign positions, and we have an institutional/work culture that resists seeking advice or knowledge from others in the department. Those who do possess critical and hard-won knowledge find it difficult to share their expertise once they depart one pigeonholed position for another. Their successors do not routinely look to them for guidance and advice, nor do they automatically think to give it. At present, communities of practice or communities of inter- est are in their infancy at State. Collaborative work tools are not well known, and data mining and knowledge database applications are in only limited use. If we are truly to realize the promise of technology to trans- form the practice of American diplomacy, we must aim at noth- ing less than leveraging our col- lective knowledge and experience on a global basis. As Sec. Powell put it, “The success of U.S. diplo- macy in this new century depends in no small measure on whether we exploit the promise of the technology revolution.” People are beginning to talk about these possibilities and some experimentation is taking place in Washington and around the world. The notion of modifying the “traditional” way of working — much less bringing about a more funda- mental shift in State’s work culture — meets with stiff resistance from many who are not comfortable with new ways of communicating and networking. This issue is frequently cited as troubling by more junior employees, who came to the department in recent years from more progressive information environments in the military, academia or the private sector. A concerted effort is needed to make Foreign Service managers and their Civil Service colleagues aware of the possibilities and the potential for advanc- ing the nation’s interests via these new tools, and to convince them to take the first steps toward 21st-cen- tury diplomacy. We are not yet at critical mass, the “Tipping Point” of Malcolm Gladwell’s book by the same name, but the forces of change are gathering strength. State’s handling of knowledge and information lags behind that of the private sector. We are indeed mak- ing progress and anticipate more, but it is vital that we not be left behind. Too much rides on our successful adaptation to the new technological and communica- tion realities and the potential they represent to lever- age information into strategic knowledge that can benefit the American people. n Another area where change is needed in order to increase our diplomatic effectiveness around the world is collaborative work and knowledge-sharing.