Abstract:
Numerous articles and books have recently appeared criticizing current leadership of the Armed Services and their collective inability to think critically, to adapt, or to innovate quickly – as well as their lack of tactical, operational, or strategic agility. However, the services have not sat idle; their individual doctrines, educational institutions, and professional journals abound with the need to create more adaptive, agile, and thinking leaders – and have done so for quite some time. Why have the solutions remained
elusive? While the problem is surely complex, this paper will examine ways to enhance innovative thought and develop pedagogical methodologies necessary to maintain a competitive advantage for the US military (ideally the entire US government) in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world. This paper will argue that a significant step toward addressing the problem could be made by the adoption of the work of John Boyd into the curriculum of professional military education (PME). It is time for a paradigm shift and revolution in military affairs that begins with the way we think and learn about complex problems on today’s battlefield.