developed, tested, or validated an approach—whether original or stolen—the best leaders freely encourage dissemination of their findings. Richard Gallagher, author of a book on workplace leadership, believes that people gain more leadership credentials by encouraging others to spread their ideas than by squabbling over credit. “When you openly encourage people to steal your ideas and get in the habit of stealing from others and crediting them, wonderful things happen to your career that you could never imagine when you try to be the lone ranger with a great idea,” Gallagher says.5 Here the Navy’s role is to provide efficient infrastructure for that dissemination so that it’s easy to find and see.
The Navy is trying to sustain its commitments with less resources, a situation that typically equates to less time for front-line leaders. They have less time to practice and perfect their mission areas, less time to meet their operational requirements, and less time to lead. To succeed, they must steep themselves in the art of stealing to obtain tested means to achieve their objectives. They need to know that they don’t have to create everything from scratch themselves, and the Navy must support their efforts with training and infrastructure.
Good leaders and innovators, while distinct, are interdependent. Good leaders need innovators to develop the methods, the tactics, and even the administrative forms they steal. Yet while feedback and innovation from the Fleet are always welcome, the Navy should not emphasize it as the focal point of development. Innovation must exist to support operational leaders, not vice versa.
It is better for an operational leader to copy than create, to steal rather than innovate. By doing so they are more likely to have the time—and the proven tools—to succeed.
Notes
1. MC3 Peter Burghart, “George Washington HTs Pump Out Aid,” www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=77655, 15 November 2013.
2. MC3 Shentel M. Yarnell and MCSN Heather Roe, “Carl Vinson Sends Desperately Needed Water Ashore,” www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=50661, 20 January 2010.
3. RADM Scott Jerabeck, Lecture at Surface Navy Association, Hampton Roads Chapter Lunch, Hampton Roads, VA, 20 November 2013.
4. Massively Multiplayer Online Wargame Leveraging the Internet: Wargames run by the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. Campaign now concluded, formerly at http://navyrad.ideascale.com/a/pages/about.
5. Rachel Zupek, “When a Co-worker Steals an Idea,” CareerBuilder.com, http://msn.empleoscb.com/CBMiniSite/SharedPages/PrinterFriendlyArticle.aspx?articleID=395.
3 “RECAPTURING OUR CREATIVE DNA”
RADM Terry B. Kraft, USN
When this article was originally published, Rear Admiral Kraft was serving as Commander, Navy Warfare Development Command (NWDC), a forward-focused Navy unit dedicated to regaining what he calls the Navy’s “innovation advantage.” In this piece, Kraft provides some of his thoughts about the art and science of innovation and adaptation and calls for more operational exercises and war games. He speaks to the modern world’s incredible rate of change when he states: “Mankind is in the midst of explosive leaps in the formulation of new ideas and opportunities.”
“RECAPTURING OUR CREATIVE DNA”
By RADM Terry B. Kraft, USN, U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings (April 2013): 46–51.
The current strategic and economic climate demands that the nation’s armed forces look for innovative ways of preparing to fight wars. The Navy and Marine Corps are no exceptions.
Mankind is in the midst of explosive leaps in the formulation of new ideas and opportunities. The speed and reach of information systems have radically transformed the temporal and spatial dimensions of war. Intertwined by the Internet and social networks, previously unconnected ideas are being fused and transformed into reality at an astonishing rate. Despite this dynamic environment, much of the Navy remains shackled to cumbersome processes and outdated thinking. To exploit the era’s rich atmosphere of ideas, and prepare for challenges that come with it, we must energize and capitalize on the enterprising nature and resourcefulness of our maritime professionals. The transition will involve creating a channel for new ideas while encouraging a participatory system of idea-generating, collaborative professionals.
As we look over the horizon, we must ensure that our naval fighting capabilities are agile enough to respond to rapid changes in the future operating environment. Here, we examine the role of innovation as the Navy and Marine Corps enter a new era of information-intensive warfare. What role does innovation play in shaping future capabilities? What conditions are important to generate and exploit innovative ideas? How do we instill a culture that promotes bold, creative thinking? To position our naval forces for success in the future we must find solutions that address these questions.
What Is Innovation?
The first question to be answered is “what’s in it for us?” Innovation is defined as creativity applied to a purpose to realize value. Innovation expert John Kao goes a little deeper in his “Innovation Manifesto.”
Innovation enables people to adapt to the waves of disruptive change . . . and the rate is increasing. Changes are brought about by new demographic and geopolitical shifts [and] by new and emerging technologies. The complexity of change is beyond most strategic planning.1
Innovation as applied to military science encourages creativity and original thought to realize value. Technological advances are occurring in abundance in the private sector. The challenge before us—better yet, the opportunity—is to closely follow and rapidly incorporate applicable new technologies. How well the Navy is able to do this may well determine its ability to move forward in the information age.
Kao goes on to state: “Creating what is both new and valuable—is not a narrowly defined, technical area of competence . . . rather, innovation emerges when different bodies of knowledge, perspectives and disciplines are brought together.”2 Our challenge is to develop a cooperative structure to enhance innovation while not crushing it with bureaucracy.
In his book The Medici Effect, Frans Johansson discusses the power of combining two seemingly unrelated fields to produce new ways of tackling old problems. The result is called an “intersectional idea.” His view is that, to truly move in a new direction, it is important to “live at the intersection.”3 One community decided to give it a try. Commander, Submarine Forces sponsored the TANG Forum in November 2011. The effort brought together a diverse set of attendees, none above the rank of lieutenant, to generate a multitude of ideas centering on implementing new technologies for the submarine force. Regarding the outputs of the conference, then-Vice Admiral John Richardson commented:
This was a landmark event for us. For the first time, we really harnessed the creativity and innovative spirit of our young operators, who are perfectly positioned in the intellectual “sweet spot”—they know our problem set in detail, and they are familiar with the intuitive interfaces from their gaming, smart phones, and tablets. The conference was so rich, some of the ideas were so mature,
