The Foreign Service Journal, June 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JUNE 2020 21 experience and more. These sites are essential at law firms, consulting firms and even technology companies so employees can expand their networks and reach the right people with the right information. Google even makes all its employees’ work requirements, what it calls objectives and key results, available on its intranet. In contrast to current practice, in which it is common for an FSO to never meet their predecessor before taking a new position, such a site could allow officers to connect with many of those who came before them who have impor- tant regional or other relevant subject matter experience. This would help lessen the knowledge and productivity gap that typically follows a transition and could be invaluable in an emergency. Say an earthquake tragically strikes in Pakistan: one could look up colleagues who managed the last natural disaster there, as well as others who listed similar work experience elsewhere in the world on their departmentwide profiles. Second, to complement a culture of sharing knowledge and expertise, create better internal and external knowledge repositories. While Diplopedia, the department’s internal wiki page, is a great start, the department should facili- tate and encourage employees to author internal pages that share best practices, ideas and tools. Externally, to better serve and con- nect with the American people, the State Department should help make information on international relations more accessible, through a design thinking process. While a new adminis- tration is entitled to a website redesign, that process should be informed by how people use the site today based on searches and page views. Thought should be given to how to display and make historical information intuitively accessible: the annual Coun- try Reports on Human Rights Practices, for example, are presently grouped by presidential administration and are not available on a single page, to the frustration of researchers and curious lay people alike. Third, develop expert career pathways in the State Department. Employees should have the option to grow in their