For those who don't know: "18F is a digital services agency built on the lean startup model based within the United States federal government." (wikipedia)
I spent 15 minutes trying to figure this out the last time they popped up on HN. It's surprising to me how difficult this was to find out. I think it was buried in a FAQ somewhere.
The USDS is part of the White House. They are directly under the President.
18F is basically a contracting agency, run by and for the government. They basically take on work that's assigned to them by the USDS. The USDS does work as well, but typically more with a leadership and policy role.
Quick clarification. 18F is not assigned work by USDS. Federal agencies come to 18F with proposed projects and then 18F chooses which ones it works on based on staffing/scope/impact etc.
What is it like working for 18F? Office space, flexibility of hours, commute, workstation, work attire, etc? Would someone who prefers the startup atmosphere survive for long?
I love it. We have a distributed team so many people work from home and then we have offices inside GSA buildings in SF, Chicago, NYC, and DC. Hours are very flexible, we just try to have some overlap with teams in various time zones. In D.C., where I am, some people work 10-6, some noon-8, and some take breaks to pick up kids from school and then work at night. Attire is very relaxed. The kind of place where if someone wears a suit you ask what they have to do that day. We're a Mac shop, which is pretty rare in the government. No real software restrictions, and we provide most of our own IT/ops support. I'm working from the roof of the GSA building right now. View of the Washington and Jefferson monuments is hard to beat.
Morale is really high. Culture and work/life balance is super important to the team and to management. People feel compelled to tweet about how much they like their job. I haven't worked at a startup, but many have and are happy to be here. There are plenty of government frustrations, but the size of the impact of our mission greatly outweighs any day to day annoyances. For me, the best thing is that when there is a problem, whether it's management, bureaucracy, or technology, the attitude is to address it openly and head on. And 18F has a group of really smart people, so those problems rarely last very long.
I work from my home outside of Chapel Hill, NC so my commute is from my bedroom to my home office. I'm in a t-shirt and yoga pants right now.
It's the best job I've had - I have autonomy, flexibility, and the ability to make an impact on a daily basis. It's really nice to think about how many people you reach on a daily basis. The problems you get to work on are challenging and complex - I'm learning new things every day.
I came from the journalism world, not a startup - so I can't speak to whether it's similar. I will say this: We have a "Yes, how can I help you do that?" philosophy, which I find refreshing and really delightful.
For example, right now I'm working on an onboarding Slack bot (code: https://github.com/18F/dolores-landingham-bot) that will help acclimate new employees to 18F. Got the idea. Threw it around. Everyone liked it. We're building it. And then we plan to write up how we did it, so others can use it too.
That's the best feeling - sharing what you learn, and not being afraid to go public with every bit. Happy to say more.
As I understand it, 18F started off as part of USDS. But the Obama administration wanted the program to outlive his tenure as POTUS, so they tucked 18F into the GSA.
That's not correct. 18F predates USDS by about a year, and we are (and always have been) independent of each other, though there is a lot of cross-pollination in our work.
Was talking to a Presidential Innovation Fellow, and probably just misunderstood what they were saying, or perhaps the Fellow had incorrect information.
I wouldn't say it's a philosophical difference. We're definitely tackling the problem in two different ways, but that's not because either group thinks the other is wrong, it's because this is a big problem that requires attacking it from many angles.
I hope I'm not the only one who thought the headline was someone trying to be hip while saying 18 year old female. (Dr Evil: I'm hip, I'm cool. I'm with it!)
