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Today's organizations operate in what the U.S. Army War College defines as a VUCA environment. Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity are constant realities in the 21st century. The military seeks to prepare for the challenges it will inevitably face by crafting realistic training scenarios and routinely integrating such activities into its ongoing operations. The goal is not to teach them what to think, but to enhance their ability to think critically and creatively about the myriad of contingencies posed by a fluid environment — in essence to teach them how to think.

In industry, 90% of time is typically devoted to executing business actions, and less than 10% is allocated for increasing organizational and individual capabilities through training. The military, on the other hand, spends as much time training as it does executing — even in the midst of high stress/high risk operations. A unit in Afghanistan or Iraq will not suspend its experiential training program while involved in combat operations, because its ability to cogently and creatively address future challenges is enhanced by an enduring commitment to improving people's competence and adaptability through experiential exercises, as well as actual experiences. But the real lesson for industry leaders is not simply that training is important. What's really valuable is how the military crafts its training opportunities.

The Army defines leadership as both accomplishing the mission and improving the organization. Permanently improving the organization requires the development of its human capital. The military believes you substantively improve people by improving their ability to adroitly address challenges in their environment. Therefore, we do not seek to confine people's thinking by restricting the solutions available to them, unless the proposed action violates any of these criteria: is it immoral, unsafe, unethical, or illegal?

leadership companies harvard ciritical_thinking creative_thinking creative_problem_solving us_army VUCA volatility uncertainty complexity ambiguity bernard_banks innovation

New research over course of 6 years, published in December Harvard Business Review - Insead's Hal Gregersen:
"Studies have shown that creativity is close to 80 percent learned and acquired," he told CNN. "We found that it's like exercising your muscles -- if you engage in the actions you build the skills."

Exactly the argument we make in our Innovation Workshop - and while those "innovation muscles" may be creaky in many adults, it's always interesting to see how creative people can be in our final 10 minute exercise at the end of the day. Typical to have over 150 ideas surfaced in one exercise alone.

More details on the workshop at:
http://www.informationarchitected.com/services/education/one-day-innovation-workshop/

innovation_management innovation CNN Insead Harvard HBR harvard_business_review creativity apple

Suffice it to say, if you don't know Tom Lehrer, read this and take a listen to some of his piano/humor work. Explains my sense of humor!

tom_lehrer elements new_math harvard humor