18F, when it started, was viewed with suspicion by other federal agencies—here were these Silicon Valley know-it-alls, coming in to tell us how to do our jobs. So, basically DOGE.
Except: 18F spent 10 years building trust in the government. As consultants, they met their clients where they were, and acted with empathy and understanding. This is pretty much the opposite of DOGE coming into an agency and seizing control.
18F’s model was geared toward continual improvement over time (“Move slowly and fix things”). It was, I think, a model with a more long term mindset than what is going on with DOGE.
It was taken down. In general, 18F’s open source work was in the public domain, though, and I know there have been efforts to archive it recently.
Additionally, it looks like some of 18F’s public guides are still available (e.g. the “Derisking” guide, which is all about how to structure your IT projects to be less likely to fail spectacularly: https://guides.18f.gov/derisking/)
I am a dev who took a remote job with the US gov a few years ago.
My options are:
- Tear up my life in my hometown and relocate my family closer to an office so I can go there and do zoom calls
- Take this deal
I struggled with this, and ultimately took the deal. I know it might be a scam. But at this point I know I will eventually be laid off for refusing to relocate. Neither option is good, and making this choice was one of the most stressful experiences of my life.
Except: 18F spent 10 years building trust in the government. As consultants, they met their clients where they were, and acted with empathy and understanding. This is pretty much the opposite of DOGE coming into an agency and seizing control.
18F’s model was geared toward continual improvement over time (“Move slowly and fix things”). It was, I think, a model with a more long term mindset than what is going on with DOGE.