Defense stifles innovation despite urgent war needs.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: DEFENSE WATCH

THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT, it appears, has a serious case of the "innovator's dilemma." Like many successful mega-corporations, the Pentagon has been a leading developer of cutting-edge technology. It also has fielded the world's most advanced military force. But at the same time, it has created self-defeating mechanisms that quash innovation and fail to capitalize on available opportunities.

Being victim of your own success is what causes the innovator's dilemma--a catchphrase coined by Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christenson.

A company he founded, Innosight, currently is advising an unidentified cadre of military and defense officials who worry that, no matter how much money the Pentagon spends, it is failing to provide relevant training and equipment for combat troops.

Since the early days of the occupation of Iraq and the ensuing counterinsurgency campaign, the Defense Department has accelerated the delivery of new technologies to meet urgent commanders' requests. Nevertheless, the right tools are not getting to the troops fast enough, argues Mark Johnson, co-founder and president of Innosight.

"The circumstance of the current military is exactly the same as companies and industries we've studied, in the sense of having to deal with dramatic change," says Johnson.

The traditional forms of research, development, and acquisition have served the nation well, Johnson says. "However, we are in different circumstances today. We need a parallel, nontraditional system that helps us win the nontraditional war we are in."

Prime examples of what afflicts the Pentagon can be seen on the frontlines, says Charles McLaughlin, an executive at Innosight and Army Special Forces reservist.

Much attention is paid to developing ultra-high-end technology, often at the expense of mundane but necessary items that can make a huge difference in war. He cites the predicament faced by soldiers responsible for guarding checkpoints. These troops are unable to stop approaching vehicles by firing warning shots, because their weapons are not loud enough. As a result, they are left with no recourse but to shoot at automobiles that, more often than not, are occupied by innocent civilians.

"People are unnecessarily dying, which hurts our counterinsurgency efforts, just because we don't have a loud enough noise maker," McLaughlin says. A soldier who was a former police officer suggested that a stoplight similar to those found on cop cars in the United States...