Stifled Innovation Developing Tomorrow

The Army is moving rapidly on the road to transformation. New vehicles are being fielded, doctrine is being written, and alternative force structures are being tested.Akey part of this process is the transformation of the human dimension of the Army. The future leaders of the transformed Army will have to be innovative leaders who can operate in a rapidly changing environment in the absence of detailed guidance from higher headquarters. Dr. Leonard Wong examines how, despite the need to develop and grow innovative leaders for the Army

This monograph examines the current company commander experience and concludes that the Army values innovation in its rhetoric, but the reality is that junior officers are seldom given opportunities to be innovative in planning training; to make decisions; or to fail, learn, and try again. This controlling, centralized environment results from three main factors. First, higher echelons increasingly are directing training requirements, taking away the discretion of company commanders to plan their own training. Second, higher headquarters increasingly are dictating how training should be conducted, taking away the initiative of company commanders when executing training. Finally, senior commanders increasingly are disrupting training with administrative requirements and taskings, taking away the predictability of company command. If the transformed Army will require leaders who can operate independently in the absence of close supervision, the current leader development experience of company command will have to change. Consequently, the author asks for senior leaders not to do more, but to do less and thus give subordinates more freedom to innovate.

"The author examines the current company commander experience and concludes that the Army values innovation in its rhetoric, but the reality is that junior officers are seldom given opportunities to be innovative in planning training; to make decisions; or to fail, learn, and try again. If the transformed Army will require leaders who can operate independently in the absence of close supervision, the current leader development experience of company command will have to change. Consequently, the author asks for senior leaders not to do more, but to do less and thus give subordinates more freedom to innovate."--SSI site.

What can the United States learn from other militaries about how better to prepare for full-spectrum operations and deployments? The authors examine the militaries of China, France, the UK, India, and Israel to (1) identify different approaches to readiness, adaptability, and operational issues and (2) assess the ways in which units are trained both for specific and general deployments and for train, advise, and assist missions.

A reasoned and urgent call to embrace and protect the essential human quality that has been drummed out of our lives: wisdom. In their provocative new book, Barry Schwartz and Kenneth Sharpe explore the insights essential to leading satisfying lives. Encouraging individuals to focus on their own personal intelligence and integrity rather than simply navigating the rules and incentives established by others, Practical Wisdom outlines how to identify and cultivate our own innate wisdom in our daily lives.

Think Like a General…Lead Like an Executive “At their center, great organizations such as America's armed forces are the product of great leaders. This fantastic book reveals the keys to success within the military culture, as well as relevant and practical application tools for creating strong leaders today.” —Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness What distinguishes strategic leadership? According to top U.S. Army generals, the difference lies in the discipline of thinking. Because the problems strategic leaders face are often multi-faceted and can involve ethical dilemmas, these leaders must move beyond thinking tactically and take a longer term, broader approach to finding solutions. Through the U.S. Army War College and other senior-service colleges, the Army teaches strategic thinking to its officers, developing some of the most esteemed leaders of our time. Strategic Leadership: The General's Art provides aspiring leaders with an understanding of the behavior and competencies that make a good strategic leader. In line with the curriculum followed by senior officers attending the U.S. Army War College, this book teaches leaders how to think strategically in a volatile, uncertain environment and thereby to provide transformational leadership and shape outcomes. With contributions from senior military leaders as well as experts in the fields of strategic leadership, systems and critical thinking, and corporate culture, this invaluable reference shows readers how to move from mid-level manager to strategic-thinking senior executive. Strategic Leadership: The General's Art provides aspiring leaders with an understanding of the behavior and competencies that make a good strategic leader. In line with the curriculum followed by senior officers attending the U.S. Army War College, this book teaches leaders how to think strategically in a volatile, uncertain environment and thereby to provide transformational leadership and shape outcomes. With contributions from senior military leaders as well as experts in the fields of strategic leadership, systems and critical thinking, and corporate culture, this invaluable reference shows readers how to move from mid-level manager to strategic-thinking senior executive.

Examining the organization of everyday life inside the regiments of the French Foreign Legion, this book takes its theoretical point of departure in the notion of the voluntary total organization; that is to say, an institution that constitutes a geographically delimited place of residence and work in which inmates are voluntarily separated from the outside world, leading an enclosed, formally administered life. Informed by a modified version of Goffman's original concept of the total institution, A Sociology of the Total Organization untangles the Foreign Legion and the ways in which different kinds of social orders interplay there. With a focus on regimental life, the author characterizes the armed forces not only as a total organization, but also as a greedy one, seeking undivided loyalty and the incorporation of all social roles within its bounds. Against this understanding, the book draws on rich ethnographic work to develop the notion of atomistic unity, the ideal relational condition that exists in the military, in which individuals commit to a unit and articulate ties with individuals on an impersonal basis, grounded in the belief in a greater whole. A detailed and empirically grounded study of the mechanisms in which the Foreign Legion not only cuts members' ties to people outside the organization, but also restricts the creation and maintenance of ties among its members, this book shows how atomistic unity is not limited to greedy organizations such as the military, but applies to a variety of collectivist settings. As such, it will appeal to scholars of sociology and anthropology with interests in military life, social relations, social theory and the work of Goffman.