Whenever we talk about innovation in the Air Force, we inevitably end up stumbling upon that familiar old trope of "The Frozen Middle", which approximately describes the theory of "middle-status conformity", in which those mid-tier leaders with enough power to enable or impede innovation for the majority are incentivized to remain risk-averse by their long-earned … Continue reading Agitate: On Being the Unfrozen Middle
Category: Air Force
OPSEC is Bad (rant)
*Warning: Some of the following may contain hyperbole. My wife was once told in an OPSEC (operational security) briefing for military spouses that every day, she should alter her route to work or taking the kids to school... to thwart adversary attempts to establish a pattern of life on her. That's right. My wife. A … Continue reading OPSEC is Bad (rant)
A Little Tribal Overlap
I have a theory that service-members of my generation and later are less likely to accept the premise that their military identity is an exclusive one. Many of my enlisted and commissioned peers consider themselves to be equally members of other tribes and communities--not just as a matter of personal perspective, but as a fact easily … Continue reading A Little Tribal Overlap
AI, Inefficiency, Innovation
It occurs to me occasionally, as I see military branches and governments around the world leap headlong into a future maximally enabled by artificial intelligence... that we might be witnessing the outset of the absolute eradication of the most powerful force in the history of human progress, creativity, and innovation- Could AI be beckoning the … Continue reading AI, Inefficiency, Innovation
A Few Thoughts on the Air Force Suicide Problem
It is remarkable how the highest levels of an organization can buy into and proudly preach a new gospel of leadership and advocate a culture of innovation, yet it doesn't do anything to change the ingrained habits of norm-enforcement at the level of execution.
