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The Less the FAR Tells You, the More You Need to Know
For the past several weeks, I've been exploring what it means to be a competent contracting professional.
That discussion is not merely academic.
The Revolutionary FAR Overhaul is intentionally reducing regulatory text, removing some nonstatutory requirements, and shifting practical guidance outside the FAR. One stated objective is to provide contracting officers greater flexibility to exercise professional judgment.
I support the objective. But there is an important consequence:
The less the FAR tells you exactly what to do, the more you need to know what you are doing.
A detailed rule can sometimes provide an answer. Remove the prescription and the contracting professional must determine what the circumstances require.
That demands more than knowledge of the remaining rules.
It requires understanding the acquisition, the marketplace, the requirement, the parties, the numbers, the risks, and the available alternatives. It requires the ability to communicate clearly, exercise business acumen, make reasonable decisions, and accept responsibility for them.
Professional judgment does not mean “do whatever you want.”
Discretion remains bounded by law, delegated authority, facts, reason, and our obligation to act responsibly on behalf of those who entrusted us with that authority.
The FAR has always expected contracting officers to exercise business judgment. What is changing is the regulatory environment in which that judgment will be exercised.
Perhaps that makes this an appropriate time to revisit an old question:
How do we know when a contracting professional is ready?
The answer cannot simply be fewer rules.
If we want a regulatory system that relies more heavily upon professional judgment, we must continually develop professionals worthy of that reliance.
And each of us controls at least one of them.
P.S. Professional Challenge: What capability will you need to strengthen if the new FAR gives you more room to exercise your own judgment?
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