{"podcast":{"title":"FedUpward Podcast - Tips for Federal Government Employees","slug":"fedupward-podcast-tips-for-federal-government-employees-624290","podcast_index_feed_id":624290,"rss_url":"https://fedupward.libsyn.com/rss","website_url":"http://fedupward.libsyn.com/website","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/4/0/3/8/40389506a724e392/fedupward_logo.png","author":"Love Rutledge","episode_count":199,"summary":"The FedUpward Podcast gives federal employees and friends of feds strategies and tips for navigating everyday problems. This is a place for federal employees to network, share ideas and get better. Don't get fed up. Get FedUpward!","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fedupward-podcast-tips-for-federal-government-employees-624290"},"episode":{"title":"211. David Spirk on Scaling What Works and Cutting What Doesn't","slug":"211-david-spirk-on-scaling-what-works-and-cutting-what-doesn-t","published_at":"2025-07-14T16:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fedupward-podcast-tips-for-federal-government-employees-624290/211-david-spirk-on-scaling-what-works-and-cutting-what-doesn-t","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fedupward-podcast-tips-for-federal-government-employees-624290","url":"https://fedupward.libsyn.com/211-david-spirk-on-scaling-what-works-and-cutting-what-doesnt","audio_url":"https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/fedupward/David_Spirk_Mixdown_1.mp3?dest-id=1392413","summary":"David Spirk on Scaling What Works and Cutting What Doesn't David Spirk, a Marine Corps veteran and Senior Counselor at Palantir, joins FedUpward to talk about driving real transformation in government. He discusses how to operationalize data, the trap of failing programs, and what efficiency should actually mean in federal service. David joined the FedUpward Podcast during the annual conference hosted by Globally, a nonprofit organization dedicated to cultivating communities of emerging leaders who are committed to addressing the most pressing global challenges of our time. 00:00 – Meet David Spirk 01:20 – How federal workers can build technical and data literacy 03:10 – Operationalizing AI: Why transformation starts at the workflow level 04:55 – Why failing programs keep getting funded 07:46 – Rethinking efficiency: Better, faster, cheaper (with meaning) Spirk doesn't mince words. He calls out the persistent funding of underperforming programs and urges federal leaders to stop rewarding PowerPoint progress over real-world impact. He also shares why mindset—especially around acquisition and budgeting—is often the biggest barrier to innovation. Connect with the Globally community here. Book Recommendation: Freedom's Forge: https://www.amazon.com/Freedoms-Forge-American-Business-Produced/dp/0812982045 Helpful Resources: Follow David Spirk on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-spirk-a21a37126/ Work with Love: www.fedupwardcoaching.com Connect with Love: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/love-rutledge Facebook: facebook.com/fedupward","meta_description":"David Spirk on Scaling What Works and Cutting What Doesn't David Spirk, a Marine Corps veteran and Senior Counselor at Palantir, joins FedUpward to talk a…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":777,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/fedupward-podcast-tips-for-federal-government-employees-624290/episodes/211-david-spirk-on-scaling-what-works-and-cutting-what-doesn-t/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fedupward-podcast-tips-for-federal-government-employees-624290/211-david-spirk-on-scaling-what-works-and-cutting-what-doesn-t.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}