NASA GSFC Solicitation: Leadership Alchemy Program

Synopsis – Oct 12, 2005

General Information

Solicitation Number: N/A
Reference Number: 4200131345
Posted Date: Oct 12, 2005
FedBizOpps Posted Date: Oct 12, 2005
Original Response Date: Oct 27, 2005
Current Response Date: Oct 27, 2005
Classification Code: U — Education and training services
NAICS Code: 611710 – Educational Support Services

Contracting Office Address

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 210.I, Greenbelt, MD 20771

Description

NASA/GSFC has a requirement for the design and delivery of the Leadership Alchemy Program for calendar years 2006-2010 for 20 Goddard personnel and potentially 8 other participants from either NASA/HQ or other Agencies.

NASA/GSFC intends to purchase these services from Bridges in Organization,Inc in accordance with 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1)–Only One Responsible Source. In FY01-FY02 Bridges in Organizations’ personnel designed and implemented the first pilot Leadership Alchemy Program for Goddard’s Financial and Resources Management community. Their involvement ranged from the conceptual and early design phases through program delivery and completion. To date, Bridges in Organizations is responsible for program design and implementation of what is considered a foundational program among Goddard’s leadership development offerings. The Leadership Alchemy Program is a unique developmental program – there are no other similar programs in the public, private, or academic sectors. Leadership Alchemy adopts an ontological, holistic, and whole-person approach. It is a rigorous program that encompasses individual and team learning in the context of workshops, Learning Team meetings, mentoring, coaching, interviewing, and shadowing. The program’s 5 fundamental practices are action learning, appreciative inquiry, emotional intelligence and relationship building, reading and reflection, and developing the presence of the leader. This uniqueness, along with the program’s effectiveness, was confirmed in an independent case study conducted by The Partnership for Public Service in 2003. Also, the Federal Consulting Group identified Leadership Alchemy as a Federal Best Practice. The quality and impact of the program earned national attention and is the subject of a chapter in a leadership book soon to be published by Jossey-Bass. The coaches and program facilitators are all Certified or Master Certified ontological coaches in accordance with the International Coaching Federation standards. One of the coaches is also a Master Certified somatic coach – one of only approximately 3 in the U.S. who is also a Certified Ontological Coach. Products utilized by Bridges in Organizations, Inc. include, and are not limited to, Learning Guides, workshop handouts and materials, workshop posters, a Mentor-Protégé Conversational Guide, and an Alchemist’s Toolkit. A notable subset of the material is proprietary to Bridges in Organizations, Inc., having been developed by them prior to the Leadership Alchemy Program and provided to NASA GSFC under a fixed price contract. Given their lead role in designing and implementation of all four Leadership Alchemy Programs, Bridges in Organization, Inc. possesses unique knowledge and expertise resulting in a minimal learning curve, thus requiring the expenditure of fewer hours and dollars. Their integral involvement since the need for this program was first identified in FY01, provides Bridges in Organization, Inc. with a unique and comprehensive understanding of the program and the workshops to date. This understanding is essential to ensuring that future workshops align with what has been taught and do not unnecessarily repeat content. It cannot be underestimated how critically important this thread of learning is to participants of NASA and to their contribution as current and future leaders of the Center. Qualifications aside, there would be a substantial duplication of costs were another contractor given responsibility for Leadership Alchemy. These costs include the research needed to learn about NASA and its leadership needs; earning certifications in somatic and ontological coaching; establishment of a cadre of certified or master certified coaches; interviews with the Program Manager, past participants, and the Office of Human Resources to identify unique expectations and requirements for the program in general and each workshop in specific ; reading the many books and articles used and conducting a literature search for the state of the art leadership perspectives; and generating replacements for the proprietary Bridges in Organizations, Inc. materials. In addition to the substantial duplication of costs, it would take an estimated year to bring a contractor up to even a minimal level, precluding the Center’s offering a program in FY06. Once brought up to that minimal level, the quality of the program would still not equal the current Leadership Alchemy Program. Based on the preceding, the minimum needs for this requirement can only be met by Bridges-in-Organizations, Inc.

The Government intends to acquire a commercial item using FAR Part 12.

Interested organizations may submit their capabilities and qualifications to perform the effort in writing to the identified point of contact not later than 4:30 p.m. local time on October 27, 2005. Such capabilities/qualifications will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed effort on a full and open competition basis, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the government.

Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice.

All responsible sources may submit an offer which shall be considered by the agency.

An Ombudsman has been appointed. See NASA Specific Note “B”.

Any referenced notes may be viewed at the following URLs linked below.

Point of Contact

Name: Camille Thurston Title: Contract Specialist Phone: (301) 286-6031 Fax: (301) 286-0247 Email: Camille.M.Thurston@nasa.gov