Venture Meets Mission: Aligning People, Purpose, and Profit to Innovate and Transform Society
Arun Gupta, Gerard George & Thomas J. Fewer
280 pages, Stanford Business Books, 2024
The call to serve one’s nation has taken on renewed significance as society grapples with multifaceted challenge, and in an age where purpose fuels the career aspirations of the younger generation, an unconventional yet compelling mission beckons: government service. Within this evolving landscape Venture Meets Mission: Aligning People, Purpose, and Profit to Innovate and Transform Society embarks on a profound exploration of the intricate interplay between talent, innovation, and societal transformation.
The younger, purpose-seeking generation is at the forefront of this transformation, driven by a deep desire to make a meaningful impact on the world. Government service is often underestimated in its potential for impact, but it offers an uncharted path for these individuals to channel their passion and skills into social change. We highlight the boundless possibilities and challenges that await those who heed the call to public service, offering a road map for navigating the intersection of venture and mission, where purpose-driven individuals converge to innovate and transform society. This journey begins with the fundamental understanding that talent is the bedrock of societal progress, whether within the government or the private sector. It underscores the indispensable role of government in attracting and nurturing talent, and the importance of working across sectors to drive transformative change. The book delves into the complexities of orchestrating human capital, bridging the gap between the public and private sectors, and nurturing intersectoral collaboration. It is a testament to the transformative power of individuals who bring diverse skill sets, experiences, and passions to the table.
In the excerpt below, we witness the shifting dynamics of career aspirations among millennials and Generation Z, in a world where achievement is redefined and where public service and mission-driven work are not just noble endeavors but also significant professional achievements. We invite readers to step into a world where purpose meets passion, where innovation meets impact, and where the pursuit of societal transformation becomes a collective endeavor. It is a call to action for the younger generation to recognize government service as their Teach for America—a gateway to making a profound difference in the world, one purposeful step at a time.—Arun Gupta, Gerard George, and Thomas J. Fewer
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Critical to any ecosystem, natural or social, are the living parts of the ecosystem. The Venture Meets Mission ecosystem is no different. Human talent, both as the driver of mission and the people who make up this ecosystem, is one of the most critical considerations in creating trust in the ecosystem. And specifically, the government’s ability to attract talent in the form of subject matter experts is of utmost importance. The expertise of the American people is one of the most valuable resources for the government to help make more informed and better decisions. Thus, without a coordinated approach to human capital, the ecosystem will not thrive to its full potential. For the government, this means not only investing in innovation, but investing in people too.
Let’s consider how a typical citizen develops skills and experiences. Most commonly, professional development of a citizen begins in the academic sector, when that person is a student. The government plays a critical role here in the development of this human capital, by funding public education from kindergarten onward. For many, government-sponsored education continues through to college and university, as these institutions receive over a quarter of their funding from federal government grants. Today, over 60 percent of high school graduates go to college—a trend likely to increase. Since 1960, the rate of enrollment among high school graduates has increased by 46.8 percent (0.8 percent annually).
For the critical and formative years of adolescent education, the government has assumed a primary role in developing human capital. But following university graduation, the human capital development for the government begins to hit speed bumps, with students increasingly moving to the private sector. For example, in 2014, the federal government found that only around 10 percent of college graduates were even considering a career in government, and this percentage was rapidly shrinking. Even among graduate students pursuing a master’s degree in public policy, the group most expected to take a position in the public sector, a decreasing number of students are choosing careers with government. The same study finds that between 2001 and 2017, the number of students opting for government jobs dropped by 15 percent to only 34 percent of all graduates. And the most unlikely college major group to consider working in government is business majors, at 3.4 percent. See the problem? Not only are students in general becoming less inclined to join government, but those who undertake professional careers most proximate to ventures are also significantly less likely to consider a career in government. The government invests heavily in students who have no interest in working in the public sector, and the group called upon to address the government’s biggest challenges are the least likely to answer this call to service. It’s quite evident where the dichotomy between the public and private sectors arises and how this produces many of the cultural challenges in their potential collaboration.
It is a difficult challenge for the government to orchestrate the Venture Meets Mission ecosystem, and it warrants a closer consideration of the hurdles that governments face in organizing human capital. First, there appears to be an incompatibility between the skills needed to do the government work and those required to thrive in the private sector. Ask any private-sector manager what the public sector can learn from them, and you can expect answers such as efficiency, rigor, and delivery. But what happens if you ask them what they can learn from the public sector? The answer may not be as clear. Press Secretary for the United Kingdom Parliament Alexander Stevenson discusses three skills that the public sector cultivates, which are useful to private-sector enterprises:
1. The art of persuasion. Public-sector managers typically spend more time than their private-sector counterparts seeking to persuade diverse groups of people, including the public, other government officials, and the media. The exceptional leaders are adept at working with a variety of stakeholders, knowing when to compromise, and when not to, and getting things done in uncertain environments—all skills that are vital in the private sector.
2. Complex decision making. Public-sector managers invest considerable time making complex and far-reaching decisions in the course of their careers, whether it’s making fine judgments about foreign policy or anticipating the federal assistance needs of diverse groups. Many are well-versed in identifying the stakeholders whom their decisions might affect as well as the long-term external factors that must be taken into account. Instinctively they seek out experts and interested parties to test their ideas, listen to input, and adapt their strategy accordingly.
3. Crisis management. Government managers spend more time managing crises than their private-sector counterparts, partly because they face more life-altering situations, and partly because they are subject to greater media scrutiny. A major crisis, such as a terrorist attack or a virus outbreak, requires swift decision making as well as careful media handling. Public managers are likely to be good at prioritizing, making sensible decisions and communicating effectively.
Stevenson’s account highlights the utility of public-sector skills to the private sector. While the public and private sectors share their differences in form and function, the skills developed and needed in both spheres are neither mutually exclusive, nor incompatible.
Vivek Kundra, the first U.S. federal chief information officer and a successful technology operating executive, shares how his public-sector experience provided him the executive and operational skills to excel in the private sector. “My public-sector experience presented me with a daily set of complex problems to address across a diverse group of stakeholders—employees, agencies, and constituents. You quickly learn the importance of systems thinking, thriving in chaos, and unwavering operational leadership to get things done at scale. My public-sector experience was invaluable in preparing for senior executive roles at some of the leading growth tech companies.” Kundra’s public-sector journey started when he was interviewing with the County of Arlington on the morning of 9/11 and was asked to join given the imminent crisis. He later was selected as the assistant secretary of commerce and technology for the Commonwealth of Virginia before moving as the chief technology officer for the District of Columbia, and eventually in 2009 Vivek was appointed as the first United States chief information officer by President Obama. He was responsible for managing more than $80 billion in annual technology spend and credited with saving billions in taxpayer dollars, adopting game-changing technologies, strengthening the cybersecurity posture of the nation, and launching an open government movement which has been replicated around the world. Following his journey and experience of operating at scale in the public sector, Kundra joined Salesforce as executive vice president, leading growth and go-to market for key global verticals such as financial services, health care, retail, auto, communications, and public sector in its journey from $2 billion to $8 billion-plus in revenue. He later became chief operating officer (COO) at Sprinklr, which he took public in 2020, and is now president and COO at project44. He emphasizes, “Everyone underestimates the vast experience, leadership skills, exposure to nation-scale problems, and opportunity for impact that the public sector affords young talent.”
Kundra goes on to suggest that it is imperative that we foster more intersectoral collaboration, saying, “We live in historic times—facing an unprecedented global economic crisis and new threats to our national security that change daily. Used wisely, technology can help us confront these challenges, but it will require all of us—the public sector, the private sector, and academia—working together to build a brighter future and lead us to a better tomorrow.” Yet a perception still remains that there’s no easy career offramp from the government back to the private sector. Success stories such as Kundra’s can be made more visible.
And we are beginning to see the government acknowledging the importance of creating institutional permeability. Recently, the DoD announced its 2023–2027 cyber workforce strategy, which stressed collaboration with industry and academia. As the government struggles to capture the next generation of tech-focused talent, the DoD has decided to change its talent model, creating a talent-exchange pilot project which will allow top cyber professionals to move in and out of government from industry and academia “without penalty.” And how can they build this offramp without being burdened by the long and intensive government hiring process? By shifting to a continuous-vetting model that updates an employee’s background in real time. By innovating their hiring process, the DoD has an opportunity to rapidly close the government tech-talent gap.
One other example of the relevancy of cross-sectoral skills, Jason Matheny explains, can be seen in the White House Fellows program. “We found that, through the White House Fellows program, the skills that students and those from the private sector bring are quite relevant to what we are doing here. But it is not to be mistaken, things here aren’t as easy as just joining a private-sector company. People experience culture shock when they join the government. We started giving people a ‘boot camp’ so they are prepared for the nuances of working in the public sector and also to explain the huge amount of good that they can do.” Matheny goes on to say, “But once they clear these cultural barriers, we see just how effective their skills are in government. Two fellows managed to pass the most significant STEM immigration reforms in the last twenty years. They got to know the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department, and got the rest of the White House on board. I mean, it’s historic! And they did this thanks to six months of work. And we will soon all get to see its huge impact, there’s going to be tens of thousands of scientists and engineers from other countries who will now be able to immigrate to the United States, thanks to their work.”
The policy Matheny is referring to is part of an update to the America COMPETES Act, or the “America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength Act of 2022.” The White House Fellows were able to push a series of policy updates that aim to improve the ability of the United States to attract and retain STEM students and scholars from abroad, adding twenty-two new STEM fields to a program that allows students on F-1 visas to work in the U.S. for some time after graduation. These new fields include many that are critical to innovation, such as human-computer interaction and neuroscience; cloud computing and computer science; economics and mathematics; data science; visualization and analytics; and several social science fields, including industrial and organizational psychology, research methodology, and quantitative methods research.
Matheny also makes a nod to diverse skill sets by overseeing one of the largest crowdsourcing experiments in history. This effort to predict world events combined the wisdom of tens of thousands of ordinary people. According to Matheny, the more diverse the teams, the better their results: “The best ideas are going to come from a more diverse group of thinkers. And what excites me about the future is that the United States is still, currently, the world’s primary engine for invention. We continue to demonstrate the value of democracy and diversity by showing that they work. And we’re still the destination of choice for the world’s leading scientists and engineers.”
The second hurdle to attracting human capital to support the government’s mission is largely generational—the achievement orientation. Whether it be growing up in an era when “everyone gets a participation trophy,” or under the pressure of mounting political, economic, and environmental challenges, millennials and Generation Zers value achievement more than any generation in modern history. In fact, these two generations are most likely to define themselves and their identities through their professional and educational achievements. But how does this create a barrier for government in orchestrating human capital around mission? While agencies such as NASA and the FBI have always been perceived as “prestigious” government positions, this is a distinction that is waning. And it likely has to do with deteriorating trust in government and growing trust in business. For example, as SpaceX and Blue Origin increasingly penetrate the commercial space market and dominate the low- and far-earth-orbit initiatives of the United States, students too are considering these roles over similar positions at NASA. In addition, Google, Apple, and other technology companies are bolstering their role in U.S. cybersecurity defense, signaling that work similar to that of the government’s is available in the private sector.39 With the decay of trust in government and growth of private-sector organizations performing various government functions and often providing larger compensation, the perceived achievement of working for the government is fading. And without a perception of public service or mission-driven work as a professional achievement, the generational gap in the government—one in which younger workers are less likely to join the government—will continue to increase.
What are potential solutions? First and foremost, the government needs to be perceived as a builder for all careers, and not only those that are limited to the public sector. Pockets of government, such as the White House Fellows program, have produced exceptional public servants including congresspeople and judges, and also exceptional civil citizens, including the founders of many private enterprises. Besides producing some of the most notable public servants in the federal government and military, government has also supported notable business figures, many of whom have developed companies that work closely with the government. Such programs can attract people with diverse skill sets to the Venture Meets Mission ecosystem.
From Venture Meets Mission: Aligning People, Purpose, and Profit to Innovate and Transform Society by Arun Gupta, Gerard George & Thomas Fewer published by Stanford Business Books. Copyright © 2023 by Arun Gupta, Gerard George & Thomas Fewer. Reprinted courtesy of Stanford Business Books.