Christopher Kirchhoff: belief

Transcript context

…So more formally, if you’re given the chance to restructure the status of whistleblowers, what would you change to make it better? Look, whistleblowing is an important function, and there are cases of egregious behavior, and they need to be called out and stopped. But at the same time, leaders in government, particularly those who have to work against the grain of their institutions, are going to ruffle a lot of feathers. My co-author, Raj, and I found that out firsthand in trying to start up Defense Innovation Unit. On our first flight to Washington, our government credit cards got shut off out of spite because somebody wanted to slow us down. We had to rebook our hotel reservations and pay out of our pocket. That was just one of many small examples of much larger political attempts to stop DIU. I think anybody who is working against the grain institution to build something new should be given a lot of authority to prosecute that mission, to make that mission a success, and held accountable if they don’t. Getting wrapped up in IG investigations that end seven years after the fact is not going to make our system of public administration any more effective. Now, the title of your book, again, is Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley Are Transforming the Future of War. Just tell us, what’s Unit X?…

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