OpenGov's CEO advises against the conventional wisdom of hiring salespeople with deep government experience. Instead, his company seeks hungry, courageous, and disciplined individuals and trains them internally on domain specifics, finding this approach more effective.

The belief that simply 'hiring the best person' ensures fairness is flawed because human bias is unavoidable. A true merit-based system requires actively engineering bias out of processes through structured interviews, clear job descriptions, and intentionally sourcing from diverse talent pools.

The federal government is failing to attract young talent, with only 7% of its workforce being early-career compared to 23% in the private sector. This creates a significant risk as 44% of the workforce approaches retirement age, leaving a massive knowledge and experience gap that threatens institutional stability.

Tying SDR promotions to time-in-seat fosters stagnation. Instead, create a clear, multi-level roadmap where advancement is based solely on hitting performance thresholds. This model rewards high-achievers, provides constant motivation, and gives reps control over their career trajectory.

To compete with high private sector salaries, the U.S. Tech Force frames its roles as a service to the country, akin to the Peace Corps. This reframes the value proposition away from pure compensation and towards civic duty and resume prestige, making it more appealing to mission-driven talent who might otherwise not consider public sector work.

The traditional value proposition of government work, lifetime employment, is described as a "myth" and the "least compelling narrative" for a younger generation. A more effective pitch focuses on solving significant, complex challenges and building a versatile skill set that provides future career options, both public and private.

The very best engineers optimize for their most precious asset: their time. They are less motivated by competing salary offers and more by the quality of the team, the problem they're solving, and the agency to build something meaningful without becoming a "cog" in a machine.

For over four decades, a 1981 consent decree effectively banned technical assessments in federal hiring due to fears of disparate impact lawsuits. This forced a reliance on self-reported skills, crippling the government's ability to evaluate technical talent. The recent reversal of this decree finally allows for modern, merit-based hiring.

Singapore's economic success is credited to its founding leaders' decision to attract and retain top-tier talent in the civil service and politics with high compensation. This creates a highly competent bureaucracy capable of sophisticated, long-term policy planning that enables a thriving business environment.