True success occurs when the government aligns project objectives with agency mission and works toward common objectives with the contractor. This starts with the government drafting its objectives. The objectives originate in the plans and goals found in agency strategic performance plans, program authorization documents, and budget and investment documents. However objectives cannot be formulated in isolation from industry consideration. Market research findings have shown industry capabilities, best practices, performance based experiences and lessons learned, proper motivators, and incentive structures for the contractor. Both sets of information should now be used to craft objectives that will enable vendors to align their objectives with those of the government. In other words, the right SOO will set the government and the eventually chosen contractor up to truly work in a partnership toward shared goals. This is a far cry from the old-school acquisition approach, characterized by driving cost down and then berating the supplier to demand delivery. When the agency and the chosen contractor share the same goals in performance, the likelihood of success rises dramatically.