Want More Innovation? Get Out of Your Office and Talk to People
Advice from a former leader of the U.S. Army’s Rapid Equipping Force.
PETER A. NEWELL | FEBRUARY 1, 2023
It’s no great secret that the Pentagon suffers from innovation inertia. How can we change that? From my experience, change starts with good conversation. Here are three ways to get innovation into your organization’s natural rhythm.
Get on the “battlefield.” Within your organization, you have to know your problem and understand it inside and out. What, exactly, are you trying to solve? Reports and documents will not give you the insight afforded by getting out of the building and talking to people. That’s not just other senior leaders, but the people who are personally struggling with the problem. You may find a problem that exists in one place and think it's exactly the same somewhere else, only to learn that the environment makes it much different. Gaining and internalizing those intricacies is vital.
We’ve learned that getting out and talking to those most affected by your work is revelatory, and leads to further, more niched discussions with unforeseen users. During my time with the Army’s Rapid Equipping Force, our best insights came from dismounted soldiers. They knew what it felt like to run out of battery power midway through a mission, and they told us what they needed in no uncertain terms. These conversations, if patiently pursued, eventually reveal the vital clue to solving the problem.
https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2023/02/want-more-innovation-get-out-your-office-and-talk-people/382402/
