The Foreign Service Journal, May 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MAY 2021 21 The State Department has relied heavily on a kind of “apprenticeship training” in which observation and experience is the model. and training, other than for languages, have long been under- resourced and seldom a leadership priority, but must be an inte- gral part of the effort to revive American diplomacy, prosperity and leadership. Our nation needs the State Department to continue to excel. The issues require well-trained diplomats and smart diplomacy. Science and technology, disease and health, arms control and nonproliferation, climate change and the global economy pres- ent newer challenges, along with the enduring issues of develop- ment, drugs, crime, corruption, migration, ethnic tension and terrorism. These are but some examples where specific profes- sional education is not just useful but essential. We have for too long fallen back on the U.S. military to deal with our critical international challenges, but the military is not recruited and prepared for, or expert in, integrated power solu- tions, and it is downsizing in recent conflict zones. This puts the State Department, more than ever, in the front line of security and stability as “the tip of the spear.” This, in turn, requires a department fully prepared to step into the role. It offers an opportunity for State to learn from the past, look to the future in resetting priorities and, importantly, expand and enhance training and education for its workforce in its changing, varied and critical missions. Professional Development at State Instead of investing sufficiently in formal education and training, the State Department has relied heavily on a kind of “apprenticeship training” in which observation and experience is the model. Its Foreign Service and Civil Service officers are often left to learn primarily through “on-the-job training.” While experience is a necessary ingredient in professional develop- ment, it can be hit or miss, especially when not linked to a for- mal, continuous education process. Indeed, because learning through experience will always be available, the time has come to make the best use of it. And that requires professional educa- tion that moves beyond simply teaching for the next job and instead creates a framework of knowledge and skills through which to evaluate experience and enhance career development. While active mentorship by more senior personnel is pre- sumed to teach and refine experiential learning into needed skills, it is also the case that mentors themselves are not only pressed for time, but sometimes need more training in what skills to focus on or how to frame a subordinate’s experience for broader depart- mental objectives. Moreover, officers themselves are constantly jumping from one issue to another. They are often challenged to find the time to reflect on lessons learned from experience or to use that reflection for career development to make themselves better able to develop new policies to solve new problems. The unstructured approach to professional development is inadequate. The lack of leadership support for, and investment in, formal education must change so that classroom learning can pair with and better focus experiential learning and develop better officers over the longer term. State cannot depend on excellence at the time of recruitment as a substitute for continu- ing professional education. It can no longer rely on on-the-job training or mentoring without strategically planned, expanded, sustained, formal professional education at all levels. A “business look” at the State Department is revealing. The department has some physical assets—headquarters, embassies and other structures—but its heart is its people. People produce its product. Our diplomats represent the United States and its values to the world. Any firm ignoring its main asset, starving its diverse workforce of learning, time and resources, soon ends up on the rocks. Professional education needs to provide its mem- bers, all its members, with what they need to know and teach them how to use it effectively. Most of all, it needs to teach them how to confront new and constantly changing situations, employ- ing foresight and innovation to avoid purely reactive approaches. The State Department can benefit from how other federal departments and agencies approach education. While their missions and the content of their training are different, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Department and others invest more time and resources in formal professional education. The U.S. military treats education and training as absolutely central to its missions; personnel spend 15 to 20 percent of their time in formal profes-