The General Services Administration has many projects under development right now, but few, if any, new people to help run and manage them.  The projects are important parts of the agency’s core mission, with both contractors and government customers anticipating the new solutions.  A new small business IT contract, a new cloud BPA, and the much-anticipated follow-on to the agency’s popular services IDIQ are just three examples.  At the same time, there is a real need for additional contracting professionals.  GSA is stretched thin.  This is the time when senior agency leadership should be supporting the agency’s core missions by ensuring that project managers have the people and resources needed for each to succeed.  It is surprising, therefore, to see senior agency leadership be primarily focused not on these issues, but on sustainability and a host of other political agenda items.  To be clear, sustainability, and its accompanying wish-list issues, are great things.  That doesn’t mean, though, that they can be implemented without costs.  One is the obvious increase in costs to contractors in complying with any new mandates.  Another is the cost in progress on the roll out of the programs noted above.  Contractors and GSA are partners in serving their common federal customer and companies should be prepared to speak up if they see timelines slipping on core projects.   A former GSA official was well known for his mantra of “getting the General what he wants”.  That’s a good basic statement that GSA leadership needs to keep in mind.  Take care of the customer and execute your core mission and not only will you be able to work on sustainability and other non-core areas, but GSA, itself, will be more sustainable.