Assignment Prompt & Instructions
**files (2)**
– ## EssayAssignmentInstructions1.pdf
– ## DisruptionIstheKeytoDeliveringtheArmyof20XX1.pdf
**## EssayAssignmentInstructions1.pdf**
Purpose The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate an understanding of
writing fundamentals and application of APA 7th ed. Guidelines.
Background
Information
The ability to write about a given topic from historical, philosophical,
rhetorical and/or cross-cultural and interdisciplinary perspectives is prudent
for today’s leaders. It allows leaders to demonstrate proficiency in creating a
shared understanding through written communication.
Topic
In the article, Disruption Is the Key to Delivering the Army of 20XX, the author
explains that creativity, cooperation, and collaboration at multiple levels in our
Army are the fundamental elements needed to produce formations at echelon
capable of winning our next battles and engagements.
In your essay, explain what is needed in our Army to support the creativity role.
Give three examples to support your argument (come up with your own).
What steps have you taken to support creativity?
Resource
Requirements
Writing Fundamentals Lesson (PowerPoint)
Writing Fundamentals Lesson (Video)
Article: Disruption Is the Key to Delivering the Army of 20XX
Expectations 1. Following the APA 7th ed. guidelines, write an essay. Your essay must:
-be a new sterile MS Word document
-include a Title page and Reference page (DO NOT include an abstract)
-be on the topic above
-include introduction and conclusion paragraphs
-be a maximum of two pages (the Title page and Reference page do
not count toward your two-page maximum)
-follow all rules of grammar, spelling, and punctuation (run a spelling and
grammar check before submission)
-include ONLY one reference and in-text citation, properly formatted IAW
APA 7th ed.
-use Times New Roman, 12pt font throughout
2. Upload and submit your essay for grading in blackboard by clicking on
the Essay Submission link.
3. Your essay will be evaluated on the expectations listed above, the
assignment rubric, and lesson material (review the Writing Fundamentals
lesson and assignment rubric before you start your essay).
ESSAY
**## DisruptionIstheKeytoDeliveringtheArmyof20XX1.pdf**
MILITARY REVIEW ONLINE EXCLUSIVE · FEBRUARY 2024
1
Lt. Gen. Milford Beagle Jr., U.S. Army , is the commanding general of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center on Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas, where he is responsible for integrating the modernization of the fielded Army across doctrine, organiza-
tion, training, materiel, leadership, personnel, facilities, and policy. He has served in multiple leadership capacities from platoon
through division levels, and his career deployments span the globe from Hawaii to the Republic of Korea. He previously served
as the commanding general of 10th Mountain Division (Light). He holds a BS from South Carolina State University, an MS from
Kansas State University, an MS from the School of Advanced Military Studies, and an MS from the Army War College.
Disruption Is the Key
to Delivering the Army
of 20XX
Lt. Gen. Milford H. Beagle Jr., U.S. Army
The chief of staff of the Army has deemed
continuous transformation as one of his four
focus areas. To understand what and how to
contribute to continuous transformation, leaders at
multiple levels require a common understanding of
the fundamental elements necessary to transform and
drive perpetual change. Bestselling author Charlene Li
explains that transforming organizations do so through
a path designed for the “future customer,” which
requires “leadership that creates a movement to drive
and sustain transformation … and a culture that thrives
on disruptive change.”1
Disruptive transformation “isn’t only about innova-
tion or technology.”2 It is largely a mindset and behavior
change among leadership teams. In other words, it sets
up organizations to thrive in a disruptive world. We must
view the future battlefield as a disruptive world, and in
doing so, leaders at multiple levels will be wise to heed a
comment made by N. R. Narayana Murthy, cofounder
of Infosys: “Growth is painful. Change is painful. But,
nothing is as painful as staying stuck where you do not
belong.”3 The changing nature of war and the creative
use of technology makes future battlefields transparent,
extended, and even more complex. It is the mindset of
embracing change, new ideas, and the associated behav-
iors such as creativity, cooperation, and collaboration
that will enable continuous transformation.
By 2030, the Army will field a new force capable
of winning on the future battlefield against a variety
of threats. Despite resource constraints that include
time, money, and people with competing global force
demands, rapid transformation is a tall task but not out
of reach. To transform, we must disrupt the status quo.
Creativity, cooperation, and collaboration at multiple
levels in our Army are the fundamental elements need-
ed to produce formations at echelon capable of winning
our next battles and engagements.
Creativity
Creativity enables the ability to expand problems
to an extent that new or alternative solutions tend to
jump out. Disruptive transformation relies on think-
ing bigger not smaller, accurately capturing risk, and
seeing as deeply into the future as possible. The role
of creativity in disruptive transformation will allow
us to shed biases and apprehension while illuminating
DISRUPTION IS THE KEY
2
possibilities. Our efforts to
experiment must be focused
on what doesn’t work versus
what will work. In the latter,
we run the risk of baking in a
conclusion of a solution work-
ing. Experience is what you
gain when you fail; therefore,
if all things are geared to suc-
ceed, we run the risk of failing
to learn and learn quickly.
Necessity accelerated
creativity over the past several
decades of war, but while
in an interwar window, the
urgency to be creative must
be accelerated. Using robots
to identify and disarm impro-
vised explosive devices (IEDs)
and synthetic aperture radars
to find IEDs are both examples
of necessity driving creativity
due to the high level of casu-
alties and injury caused by
IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Unmanned aircraft systems
(UAS), once exclusively used
for intelligence, surveillance,
and reconnaissance, are now
being considered for casualty
evacuation—a good example of
creative urgency based on the
technology available and the
host of uses for UASs under
multiple conditions of war.
Creativity means full com-
mitment to change, and as
insurance, avoid the tempta-
tion to turn back by burning
the boats. Creative thinking
also brings into focus the term
“burning the boats.” This is a
reference to Alexander the
Great’s conquering the Persian
Empire. In 334 BCE, after
sailing a large fleet across the
Hellespont Strait into Persian
Left: Future general and president Dwight D. Eisenhower served at Camp Meade, Mary-
land, following World War I. Right: As a temporary lieutenant colonel, George S. Patton Jr.,
of the 1st Tank Battalion, stands in front of a French Renault tank in summer 1918. (Photos
courtesy of the National Archives)
Prominent Disrupters
Following World War I, Maj. George S. Patton and Capt. Dwight “Ike”
Eisenhower shared a passionate vision regarding the evolution of tank
warfare, publishing articles in professional military journals extolling the
importance of tanks to the future of the Army. The articles were disrup-
tive to given wisdom of the time with respect to the “proper” role of tanks
as they related to infantry. In the case of Eisenhower, he was threatened
with court martial if he published further on the subject for advocating
“dangerous” ideas. Notwithstanding, in time, Patton’s and Eisenhower’s
ideas significantly influenced the direction of the Army’s operational and
tactical employment of armor.
To read the article “Comments on ‘Cavalry Tanks’” by Maj. George S.
Patton Jr., see the November-December 2015 edition of Military Review at
https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/
English/MilitaryReview_20151231_art009.pdf.
To read Eisenhower’s article, “A Tank Discussion,” from the November
1920 edition of the Infantry Journal, visit https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/
digital/collection/p4013coll7/id/799/. For more detail on the contribu-
tions of Eisenhower as an early advocate of developing tank warfare, see
“The Making of a General: Ike, the Tank, and the Interwar Years” by Lt.
Col. (Ret.) Thomas Morgan at https://armyhistory.org/the-making-of-a-
general-ike-the-tank-and-the-interwar-years/.
[https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20151231_a](https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20151231_a)
[https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20151231_a](https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20151231_a)
[https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll7/id/799/](https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll7/id/799/)
[https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll7/id/799/](https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll7/id/799/)
[https://armyhistory.org/the-making-of-a-general-ike-the-tank-and-the-interwar-years/](https://armyhistory.org/the-making-of-a-general-ike-the-tank-and-the-interwar-years/)
[https://armyhistory.org/the-making-of-a-general-ike-the-tank-and-the-interwar-years/](https://armyhistory.org/the-making-of-a-general-ike-the-tank-and-the-interwar-years/)
DISRUPTION IS THE KEY
MILITARY REVIEW ONLINE EXCLUSIVE · FEBRUARY 2024
3
The adage ‘better to have and not need than to need
and not have’ counters everything about creativity and
disruptive transformation. Creativity allows freer and
bigger thinking even when resources are constrained.
territory, Alexander ordered the ships to be burned. To
his men’s dismay, he stated that we will either die here
or return on Persian ships.4
Creativity will require us to burn some boats. The
temptation can’t be to hold onto what we had because
of the uncertainty of the next solution. In this sense,
the adage “better to have and not need than to need
and not have” counters everything about creativity and
disruptive transformation. Creativity allows freer and
bigger thinking even when resources are constrained.
The simple ability to solve new problems in new ways
and in some cases with old things affords a level of
creative freedom across our force. The anchor of hold-
ing onto the old while trying to create the new simply
won’t work. Conversely, if we find ourselves in need but
don’t have, a lack of creativity can be the first place we
may want to look.
Cooperation
Delivering the Army of 20XX will require a higher
degree of cooperation inside and outside of our en-
terprise than ever to make our operational concepts
come to fruition. Dominic Barton, head of McKinsey,
once asserted that “we love to tell other people to
change, but it’s not fun when you’re the one chang-
ing.”5 In this sense, we must act together in an effort
to achieve a common purpose, which is the essence of
cooperation. For disruptive transformation to occur,
cooperation is not the byproduct of developing big
ideas in a vacuum; the desired outcome is the sharing
of the big ideas with others to find solutions. Linked
to the previous behavior, cooperation brings about
even more creativity.
Within the Training and Doctrine Command,
there are many shining examples of robust cooperation
occurring at the center of excellence (COE) level. As
one example, the Cyber COE in conjunction with the
community of experts across network requirements
determined that system requirements designed in iso-
lation fail to account for aggregate compute, store, and
transport requirements. As another example, multiple
COEs cooperated with the Aviation COE to determine
that having specialty UASs for each branch or function
is not feasible, but common airframes capable of carry-
ing a variety of payloads is a better way forward.
Disruption isn’t always about new stuff; in some
cases, it is as simple as cooperating to see if old things
or concepts can be used in different ways. The ability to
cooperate with a clear-eyed view of a common purpose
will also lead to solution generation with things we
already have. Showcased are the examples of extreme
change and continual transformation by big organi-
zations like Google and Facebook. But not all their
change was revolutionary or evolutionary; some was
disruptive. Many products used by these two business
powerhouses “were third generation iterations of tech-
nology that already existed.”6 They were simply used in
different ways. Cooperation means operating outside of
the vacuum to continually drive change.
Collaboration
Finally, the third variable to disruptive transforma-
tion is collaboration. Collaboration in this sense goes
beyond simply working together or as an extension of
cooperation. Collaboration drives disruptive transfor-
mation by creating breakthroughs. As described by Li,
these breakthroughs “are born from an uncanny ability
to see the future and direct all the resources of your
organization to chase after it.”7
Our own historical Army examples of this are the
“Big 5,” which have been used ad nauseum to illustrate
how modernization and transformation paid huge
dividends in the post-Vietnam era.8 The collabora-
tion across multiple commands to include the newly
formed Training and Doctrine Command and Forces
Command, both born in 1973, made possible the
DISRUPTION IS THE KEY
MILITARY REVIEW ONLINE EXCLUSIVE · FEBRUARY 2024
4
alignment of resources, energy, and effort to bring new
doctrine (AirLand Battle), equipment (the Big 5), and
organizations to fruition. Little was it known that the
force designed, and the envisioned employment would
play out in places like Panama and Iraq to great effect
versus the plains of Europe.
This may be the case again in an uncertain, disrup-
tive, and complex global security environment that
our Army will face and be required to contribute to
as part of a joint and multinational force. Therefore,
collaboration to see as deeply into the future as possi-
ble and to direct scarce resources to the fundamental
requirements necessary to contribute under multiple
conditions of war (conventional, irregular, hybrid, etc.)
will be how history will measure our success.
Conclusion
For continual transformation to achieve the out-
comes we desire, we must foster a culture that thrives
on disruptive change.
In terms of change, it is far easier to see what needs
to be done versus how it will get done. The adage of
there being more work in a “how” question than a
“why” or “what” question certainly rings true in this
case. Creativity, cooperation, and collaboration provide
the how to develop and sustain disruptive transforma-
tion to push against the status quo where necessary,
bureaucracy where needed, and complacency where
found. To gain the speed we need in the short amount
of time available, minimal disruption to the status quo
won’t exactly be a winning recipe.
Disruptive transformation is more of a cultur-
al mindset than innovation or technology; it is our
“how to” for continual transformation. Li posits,
“Innovation is the snooze button of corporate strategy,
pushing tough decisions into the future.”9 Creativity
will enable seeing the challenges of the future in
breadth and depth in some ways clouded by quick win
innovations. Cooperation allows us to break stove-
pipes to gain a better perspective of what is in the best
interest of the Army’s contribution to a joint fight, re-
gardless of theater and agnostic to conditions of war.
Collaboration puts us in a position to break through
the complexity of challenges that we will face in the
future versus succumbing to creating solutions that
are parochial, biased, or warfighting function centric.
As Gen. Donn Starry once described, collaboration
will enable us to operate from a “common cultural
bias” to solve complex problems.10
When the security environment is as complex as
what we will face in the future, we must tackle tough
decisions head on by developing creative solutions.
Future leaders of the Army of 20xx (what we describe
as 2030, 2040, or 2050), or “the future customer,” will
judge us not on a new piece of kit but rather how we
got it there. When you comb through the archives of
our post-Vietnam era history, the technology is the
least impressive thing that you will find. The most
impressive thing you will find is how leaders got there
through the persistence of collaboration, healthy coop-
eration, and a sense of urgency-driven creativity.
Disrupting the status quo doesn’t mean flipping the
apple cart, nor does it introduce a new term to use as the
next big buzzword. In a simple way and in simple terms,
it will help generate the speed, agility, and versatility
needed to keep pace with change and complexity.
Notes
1. Charlene Li, The Disruption Mindset: Why Some Organiza-
tions Transform While Others Fail (Oakton, VA: IdeaPress Publish-
ing, 2019), 5–7.
2. Ibid., 5.
3. Ibid., 1.
4. Ibid., 57–58.
5. Ibid., 127.
6. Ibid., 17.
7. Ibid.
8. “The U.S. Army Needs a ‘Small Five’ Modernization Strategy,”
Lexington Institute, 16 October 2015, https://www.lexingtoninsti-
tute.org/the-u-s-army-needs-a-small-five-modernization-strategy/.
9. Li, The Disruption Mindset, 5.
10. Donn A. Starry, “To Change an Army,” Military Review 63,
no. 3 (March 1983): 20–27.
US ISSN 0026-4148
– Disruption Is the Key to Delivering the Army of 20XX
– Creativity
– Cooperation
– Collaboration
– Conclusion
**## DisruptionIstheKeytoDeliveringtheArmyof20XX1.pdf**
MILITARY REVIEW ONLINE EXCLUSIVE · FEBRUARY 2024
1
Lt. Gen. Milford Beagle Jr., U.S. Army , is the commanding general of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center on Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas, where he is responsible for integrating the modernization of the fielded Army across doctrine, organiza-
tion, training, materiel, leadership, personnel, facilities, and policy. He has served in multiple leadership capacities from platoon
through division levels, and his career deployments span the globe from Hawaii to the Republic of Korea. He previously served
as the commanding general of 10th Mountain Division (Light). He holds a BS from South Carolina State University, an MS from
Kansas State University, an MS from the School of Advanced Military Studies, and an MS from the Army War College.
Disruption Is the Key
to Delivering the Army
of 20XX
Lt. Gen. Milford H. Beagle Jr., U.S. Army
The chief of staff of the Army has deemed
continuous transformation as one of his four
focus areas. To understand what and how to
contribute to continuous transformation, leaders at
multiple levels require a common understanding of
the fundamental elements necessary to transform and
drive perpetual change. Bestselling author Charlene Li
explains that transforming organizations do so through
a path designed for the “future customer,” which
requires “leadership that creates a movement to drive
and sustain transformation … and a culture that thrives
on disruptive change.”1
Disruptive transformation “isn’t only about innova-
tion or technology.”2 It is largely a mindset and behavior
change among leadership teams. In other words, it sets
up organizations to thrive in a disruptive world. We must
view the future battlefield as a disruptive world, and in
doing so, leaders at multiple levels will be wise to heed a
comment made by N. R. Narayana Murthy, cofounder
of Infosys: “Growth is painful. Change is painful. But,
nothing is as painful as staying stuck where you do not
belong.”3 The changing nature of war and the creative
use of technology makes future battlefields transparent,
extended, and even more complex. It is the mindset of
embracing change, new ideas, and the associated behav-
iors such as creativity, cooperation, and collaboration
that will enable continuous transformation.
By 2030, the Army will field a new force capable
of winning on the future battlefield against a variety
of threats. Despite resource constraints that include
time, money, and people with competing global force
demands, rapid transformation is a tall task but not out
of reach. To transform, we must disrupt the status quo.
Creativity, cooperation, and collaboration at multiple
levels in our Army are the fundamental elements need-
ed to produce formations at echelon capable of winning
our next battles and engagements.
Creativity
Creativity enables the ability to expand problems
to an extent that new or alternative solutions tend to
jump out. Disruptive transformation relies on think-
ing bigger not smaller, accurately capturing risk, and
seeing as deeply into the future as possible. The role
of creativity in disruptive transformation will allow
us to shed biases and apprehension while illuminating
DISRUPTION IS THE KEY
2
possibilities. Our efforts to
experiment must be focused
on what doesn’t work versus
what will work. In the latter,
we run the risk of baking in a
conclusion of a solution work-
ing. Experience is what you
gain when you fail; therefore,
if all things are geared to suc-
ceed, we run the risk of failing
to learn and learn quickly.
Necessity accelerated
creativity over the past several
decades of war, but while
in an interwar window, the
urgency to be creative must
be accelerated. Using robots
to identify and disarm impro-
vised explosive devices (IEDs)
and synthetic aperture radars
to find IEDs are both examples
of necessity driving creativity
due to the high level of casu-
alties and injury caused by
IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Unmanned aircraft systems
(UAS), once exclusively used
for intelligence, surveillance,
and reconnaissance, are now
being considered for casualty
evacuation—a good example of
creative urgency based on the
technology available and the
host of uses for UASs under
multiple conditions of war.
Creativity means full com-
mitment to change, and as
insurance, avoid the tempta-
tion to turn back by burning
the boats. Creative thinking
also brings into focus the term
“burning the boats.” This is a
reference to Alexander the
Great’s conquering the Persian
Empire. In 334 BCE, after
sailing a large fleet across the
Hellespont Strait into Persian
Left: Future general and president Dwight D. Eisenhower served at Camp Meade, Mary-
land, following World War I. Right: As a temporary lieutenant colonel, George S. Patton Jr.,
of the 1st Tank Battalion, stands in front of a French Renault tank in summer 1918. (Photos
courtesy of the National Archives)
Prominent Disrupters
Following World War I, Maj. George S. Patton and Capt. Dwight “Ike”
Eisenhower shared a passionate vision regarding the evolution of tank
warfare, publishing articles in professional military journals extolling the
importance of tanks to the future of the Army. The articles were disrup-
tive to given wisdom of the time with respect to the “proper” role of tanks
as they related to infantry. In the case of Eisenhower, he was threatened
with court martial if he published further on the subject for advocating
“dangerous” ideas. Notwithstanding, in time, Patton’s and Eisenhower’s
ideas significantly influenced the direction of the Army’s operational and
tactical employment of armor.
To read the article “Comments on ‘Cavalry Tanks’” by Maj. George S.
Patton Jr., see the November-December 2015 edition of Military Review at
https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/
English/MilitaryReview_20151231_art009.pdf.
To read Eisenhower’s article, “A Tank Discussion,” from the November
1920 edition of the Infantry Journal, visit https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/
digital/collection/p4013coll7/id/799/. For more detail on the contribu-
tions of Eisenhower as an early advocate of developing tank warfare, see
“The Making of a General: Ike, the Tank, and the Interwar Years” by Lt.
Col. (Ret.) Thomas Morgan at https://armyhistory.org/the-making-of-a-
general-ike-the-tank-and-the-interwar-years/.
[https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20151231_a](https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20151231_a)
[https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20151231_a](https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20151231_a)
[https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll7/id/799/](https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll7/id/799/)
[https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll7/id/799/](https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll7/id/799/)
[https://armyhistory.org/the-making-of-a-general-ike-the-tank-and-the-interwar-years/](https://armyhistory.org/the-making-of-a-general-ike-the-tank-and-the-interwar-years/)
[https://armyhistory.org/the-making-of-a-general-ike-the-tank-and-the-interwar-years/](https://armyhistory.org/the-making-of-a-general-ike-the-tank-and-the-interwar-years/)
DISRUPTION IS THE KEY
MILITARY REVIEW ONLINE EXCLUSIVE · FEBRUARY 2024
3
The adage ‘better to have and not need than to need
and not have’ counters everything about creativity and
disruptive transformation. Creativity allows freer and
bigger thinking even when resources are constrained.
territory, Alexander ordered the ships to be burned. To
his men’s dismay, he stated that we will either die here
or return on Persian ships.4
Creativity will require us to burn some boats. The
temptation can’t be to hold onto what we had because
of the uncertainty of the next solution. In this sense,
the adage “better to have and not need than to need
and not have” counters everything about creativity and
disruptive transformation. Creativity allows freer and
bigger thinking even when resources are constrained.
The simple ability to solve new problems in new ways
and in some cases with old things affords a level of
creative freedom across our force. The anchor of hold-
ing onto the old while trying to create the new simply
won’t work. Conversely, if we find ourselves in need but
don’t have, a lack of creativity can be the first place we
may want to look.
Cooperation
Delivering the Army of 20XX will require a higher
degree of cooperation inside and outside of our en-
terprise than ever to make our operational concepts
come to fruition. Dominic Barton, head of McKinsey,
once asserted that “we love to tell other people to
change, but it’s not fun when you’re the one chang-
ing.”5 In this sense, we must act together in an effort
to achieve a common purpose, which is the essence of
cooperation. For disruptive transformation to occur,
cooperation is not the byproduct of developing big
ideas in a vacuum; the desired outcome is the sharing
of the big ideas with others to find solutions. Linked
to the previous behavior, cooperation brings about
even more creativity.
Within the Training and Doctrine Command,
there are many shining examples of robust cooperation
occurring at the center of excellence (COE) level. As
one example, the Cyber COE in conjunction with the
community of experts across network requirements
determined that system requirements designed in iso-
lation fail to account for aggregate compute, store, and
transport requirements. As another example, multiple
COEs cooperated with the Aviation COE to determine
that having specialty UASs for each branch or function
is not feasible, but common airframes capable of carry-
ing a variety of payloads is a better way forward.
Disruption isn’t always about new stuff; in some
cases, it is as simple as cooperating to see if old things
or concepts can be used in different ways. The ability to
cooperate with a clear-eyed view of a common purpose
will also lead to solution generation with things we
already have. Showcased are the examples of extreme
change and continual transformation by big organi-
zations like Google and Facebook. But not all their
change was revolutionary or evolutionary; some was
disruptive. Many products used by these two business
powerhouses “were third generation iterations of tech-
nology that already existed.”6 They were simply used in
different ways. Cooperation means operating outside of
the vacuum to continually drive change.
Collaboration
Finally, the third variable to disruptive transforma-
tion is collaboration. Collaboration in this sense goes
beyond simply working together or as an extension of
cooperation. Collaboration drives disruptive transfor-
mation by creating breakthroughs. As described by Li,
these breakthroughs “are born from an uncanny ability
to see the future and direct all the resources of your
organization to chase after it.”7
Our own historical Army examples of this are the
“Big 5,” which have been used ad nauseum to illustrate
how modernization and transformation paid huge
dividends in the post-Vietnam era.8 The collabora-
tion across multiple commands to include the newly
formed Training and Doctrine Command and Forces
Command, both born in 1973, made possible the
DISRUPTION IS THE KEY
MILITARY REVIEW ONLINE EXCLUSIVE · FEBRUARY 2024
4
alignment of resources, energy, and effort to bring new
doctrine (AirLand Battle), equipment (the Big 5), and
organizations to fruition. Little was it known that the
force designed, and the envisioned employment would
play out in places like Panama and Iraq to great effect
versus the plains of Europe.
This may be the case again in an uncertain, disrup-
tive, and complex global security environment that
our Army will face and be required to contribute to
as part of a joint and multinational force. Therefore,
collaboration to see as deeply into the future as possi-
ble and to direct scarce resources to the fundamental
requirements necessary to contribute under multiple
conditions of war (conventional, irregular, hybrid, etc.)
will be how history will measure our success.
Conclusion
For continual transformation to achieve the out-
comes we desire, we must foster a culture that thrives
on disruptive change.
In terms of change, it is far easier to see what needs
to be done versus how it will get done. The adage of
there being more work in a “how” question than a
“why” or “what” question certainly rings true in this
case. Creativity, cooperation, and collaboration provide
the how to develop and sustain disruptive transforma-
tion to push against the status quo where necessary,
bureaucracy where needed, and complacency where
found. To gain the speed we need in the short amount
of time available, minimal disruption to the status quo
won’t exactly be a winning recipe.
Disruptive transformation is more of a cultur-
al mindset than innovation or technology; it is our
“how to” for continual transformation. Li posits,
“Innovation is the snooze button of corporate strategy,
pushing tough decisions into the future.”9 Creativity
will enable seeing the challenges of the future in
breadth and depth in some ways clouded by quick win
innovations. Cooperation allows us to break stove-
pipes to gain a better perspective of what is in the best
interest of the Army’s contribution to a joint fight, re-
gardless of theater and agnostic to conditions of war.
Collaboration puts us in a position to break through
the complexity of challenges that we will face in the
future versus succumbing to creating solutions that
are parochial, biased, or warfighting function centric.
As Gen. Donn Starry once described, collaboration
will enable us to operate from a “common cultural
bias” to solve complex problems.10
When the security environment is as complex as
what we will face in the future, we must tackle tough
decisions head on by developing creative solutions.
Future leaders of the Army of 20xx (what we describe
as 2030, 2040, or 2050), or “the future customer,” will
judge us not on a new piece of kit but rather how we
got it there. When you comb through the archives of
our post-Vietnam era history, the technology is the
least impressive thing that you will find. The most
impressive thing you will find is how leaders got there
through the persistence of collaboration, healthy coop-
eration, and a sense of urgency-driven creativity.
Disrupting the status quo doesn’t mean flipping the
apple cart, nor does it introduce a new term to use as the
next big buzzword. In a simple way and in simple terms,
it will help generate the speed, agility, and versatility
needed to keep pace with change and complexity.
Notes
1. Charlene Li, The Disruption Mindset: Why Some Organiza-
tions Transform While Others Fail (Oakton, VA: IdeaPress Publish-
ing, 2019), 5–7.
2. Ibid., 5.
3. Ibid., 1.
4. Ibid., 57–58.
5. Ibid., 127.
6. Ibid., 17.
7. Ibid.
8. “The U.S. Army Needs a ‘Small Five’ Modernization Strategy,”
Lexington Institute, 16 October 2015, https://www.lexingtoninsti-
tute.org/the-u-s-army-needs-a-small-five-modernization-strategy/.
9. Li, The Disruption Mindset, 5.
10. Donn A. Starry, “To Change an Army,” Military Review 63,
no. 3 (March 1983): 20–27.
US ISSN 0026-4148
– Disruption Is the Key to Delivering the Army of 20XX
– Creativity
– Cooperation
– Collaboration
– Conclusion
**## EssayAssignmentInstructions1.pdf**
Purpose The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate an understanding of
writing fundamentals and application of APA 7th ed. Guidelines.
Background
Information
The ability to write about a given topic from historical, philosophical,
rhetorical and/or cross-cultural and interdisciplinary perspectives is prudent
for today’s leaders. It allows leaders to demonstrate proficiency in creating a
shared understanding through written communication.
Topic
In the article, Disruption Is the Key to Delivering the Army of 20XX, the author
explains that creativity, cooperation, and collaboration at multiple levels in our
Army are the fundamental elements needed to produce formations at echelon
capable of winning our next battles and engagements.
In your essay, explain what is needed in our Army to support the creativity role.
Give three examples to support your argument (come up with your own).
What steps have you taken to support creativity?
Resource
Requirements
Writing Fundamentals Lesson (PowerPoint)
Writing Fundamentals Lesson (Video)
Article: Disruption Is the Key to Delivering the Army of 20XX
Expectations 1. Following the APA 7th ed. guidelines, write an essay. Your essay must:
-be a new sterile MS Word document
-include a Title page and Reference page (DO NOT include an abstract)
-be on the topic above
-include introduction and conclusion paragraphs
-be a maximum of two pages (the Title page and Reference page do
not count toward your two-page maximum)
-follow all rules of grammar, spelling, and punctuation (run a spelling and
grammar check before submission)
-include ONLY one reference and in-text citation, properly formatted IAW
APA 7th ed.
-use Times New Roman, 12pt font throughout
2. Upload and submit your essay for grading in blackboard by clicking on
the Essay Submission link.
3. Your essay will be evaluated on the expectations listed above, the
assignment rubric, and lesson material (review the Writing Fundamentals
lesson and assignment rubric before you start your essay).
ESSAY
**## DisruptionIstheKeytoDeliveringtheArmyof20XX1.pdf**
MILITARY REVIEW ONLINE EXCLUSIVE · FEBRUARY 2024
1
Lt. Gen. Milford Beagle Jr., U.S. Army , is the commanding general of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center on Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas, where he is responsible for integrating the modernization of the fielded Army across doctrine, organiza-
tion, training, materiel, leadership, personnel, facilities, and policy. He has served in multiple leadership capacities from platoon
through division levels, and his career deployments span the globe from Hawaii to the Republic of Korea. He previously served
as the commanding general of 10th Mountain Division (Light). He holds a BS from South Carolina State University, an MS from
Kansas State University, an MS from the School of Advanced Military Studies, and an MS from the Army War College.
Disruption Is the Key
to Delivering the Army
of 20XX
Lt. Gen. Milford H. Beagle Jr., U.S. Army
The chief of staff of the Army has deemed
continuous transformation as one of his four
focus areas. To understand what and how to
contribute to continuous transformation, leaders at
multiple levels require a common understanding of
the fundamental elements necessary to transform and
drive perpetual change. Bestselling author Charlene Li
explains that transforming organizations do so through
a path designed for the “future customer,” which
requires “leadership that creates a movement to drive
and sustain transformation … and a culture that thrives
on disruptive change.”1
Disruptive transformation “isn’t only about innova-
tion or technology.”2 It is largely a mindset and behavior
change among leadership teams. In other words, it sets
up organizations to thrive in a disruptive world. We must
view the future battlefield as a disruptive world, and in
doing so, leaders at multiple levels will be wise to heed a
comment made by N. R. Narayana Murthy, cofounder
of Infosys: “Growth is painful. Change is painful. But,
nothing is as painful as staying stuck where you do not
belong.”3 The changing nature of war and the creative
use of technology makes future battlefields transparent,
extended, and even more complex. It is the mindset of
embracing change, new ideas, and the associated behav-
iors such as creativity, cooperation, and collaboration
that will enable continuous transformation.
By 2030, the Army will field a new force capable
of winning on the future battlefield against a variety
of threats. Despite resource constraints that include
time, money, and people with competing global force
demands, rapid transformation is a tall task but not out
of reach. To transform, we must disrupt the status quo.
Creativity, cooperation, and collaboration at multiple
levels in our Army are the fundamental elements need-
ed to produce formations at echelon capable of winning
our next battles and engagements.
Creativity
Creativity enables the ability to expand problems
to an extent that new or alternative solutions tend to
jump out. Disruptive transformation relies on think-
ing bigger not smaller, accurately capturing risk, and
seeing as deeply into the future as possible. The role
of creativity in disruptive transformation will allow
us to shed biases and apprehension while illuminating
DISRUPTION IS THE KEY
2
possibilities. Our efforts to
experiment must be focused
on what doesn’t work versus
what will work. In the latter,
we run the risk of baking in a
conclusion of a solution work-
ing. Experience is what you
gain when you fail; therefore,
if all things are geared to suc-
ceed, we run the risk of failing
to learn and learn quickly.
Necessity accelerated
creativity over the past several
decades of war, but while
in an interwar window, the
urgency to be creative must
be accelerated. Using robots
to identify and disarm impro-
vised explosive devices (IEDs)
and synthetic aperture radars
to find IEDs are both examples
of necessity driving creativity
due to the high level of casu-
alties and injury caused by
IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Unmanned aircraft systems
(UAS), once exclusively used
for intelligence, surveillance,
and reconnaissance, are now
being considered for casualty
evacuation—a good example of
creative urgency based on the
technology available and the
host of uses for UASs under
multiple conditions of war.
Creativity means full com-
mitment to change, and as
insurance, avoid the tempta-
tion to turn back by burning
the boats. Creative thinking
also brings into focus the term
“burning the boats.” This is a
reference to Alexander the
Great’s conquering the Persian
Empire. In 334 BCE, after
sailing a large fleet across the
Hellespont Strait into Persian
Left: Future general and president Dwight D. Eisenhower served at Camp Meade, Mary-
land, following World War I. Right: As a temporary lieutenant colonel, George S. Patton Jr.,
of the 1st Tank Battalion, stands in front of a French Renault tank in summer 1918. (Photos
courtesy of the National Archives)
Prominent Disrupters
Following World War I, Maj. George S. Patton and Capt. Dwight “Ike”
Eisenhower shared a passionate vision regarding the evolution of tank
warfare, publishing articles in professional military journals extolling the
importance of tanks to the future of the Army. The articles were disrup-
tive to given wisdom of the time with respect to the “proper” role of tanks
as they related to infantry. In the case of Eisenhower, he was threatened
with court martial if he published further on the subject for advocating
“dangerous” ideas. Notwithstanding, in time, Patton’s and Eisenhower’s
ideas significantly influenced the direction of the Army’s operational and
tactical employment of armor.
To read the article “Comments on ‘Cavalry Tanks’” by Maj. George S.
Patton Jr., see the November-December 2015 edition of Military Review at
https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/
English/MilitaryReview_20151231_art009.pdf.
To read Eisenhower’s article, “A Tank Discussion,” from the November
1920 edition of the Infantry Journal, visit https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/
digital/collection/p4013coll7/id/799/. For more detail on the contribu-
tions of Eisenhower as an early advocate of developing tank warfare, see
“The Making of a General: Ike, the Tank, and the Interwar Years” by Lt.
Col. (Ret.) Thomas Morgan at https://armyhistory.org/the-making-of-a-
general-ike-the-tank-and-the-interwar-years/.
[https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20151231_a](https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20151231_a)
[https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20151231_a](https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20151231_a)
[https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll7/id/799/](https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll7/id/799/)
[https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll7/id/799/](https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll7/id/799/)
[https://armyhistory.org/the-making-of-a-general-ike-the-tank-and-the-interwar-years/](https://armyhistory.org/the-making-of-a-general-ike-the-tank-and-the-interwar-years/)
[https://armyhistory.org/the-making-of-a-general-ike-the-tank-and-the-interwar-years/](https://armyhistory.org/the-making-of-a-general-ike-the-tank-and-the-interwar-years/)
DISRUPTION IS THE KEY
MILITARY REVIEW ONLINE EXCLUSIVE · FEBRUARY 2024
3
The adage ‘better to have and not need than to need
and not have’ counters everything about creativity and
disruptive transformation. Creativity allows freer and
bigger thinking even when resources are constrained.
territory, Alexander ordered the ships to be burned. To
his men’s dismay, he stated that we will either die here
or return on Persian ships.4
Creativity will require us to burn some boats. The
temptation can’t be to hold onto what we had because
of the uncertainty of the next solution. In this sense,
the adage “better to have and not need than to need
and not have” counters everything about creativity and
disruptive transformation. Creativity allows freer and
bigger thinking even when resources are constrained.
The simple ability to solve new problems in new ways
and in some cases with old things affords a level of
creative freedom across our force. The anchor of hold-
ing onto the old while trying to create the new simply
won’t work. Conversely, if we find ourselves in need but
don’t have, a lack of creativity can be the first place we
may want to look.
Cooperation
Delivering the Army of 20XX will require a higher
degree of cooperation inside and outside of our en-
terprise than ever to make our operational concepts
come to fruition. Dominic Barton, head of McKinsey,
once asserted that “we love to tell other people to
change, but it’s not fun when you’re the one chang-
ing.”5 In this sense, we must act together in an effort
to achieve a common purpose, which is the essence of
cooperation. For disruptive transformation to occur,
cooperation is not the byproduct of developing big
ideas in a vacuum; the desired outcome is the sharing
of the big ideas with others to find solutions. Linked
to the previous behavior, cooperation brings about
even more creativity.
Within the Training and Doctrine Command,
there are many shining examples of robust cooperation
occurring at the center of excellence (COE) level. As
one example, the Cyber COE in conjunction with the
community of experts across network requirements
determined that system requirements designed in iso-
lation fail to account for aggregate compute, store, and
transport requirements. As another example, multiple
COEs cooperated with the Aviation COE to determine
that having specialty UASs for each branch or function
is not feasible, but common airframes capable of carry-
ing a variety of payloads is a better way forward.
Disruption isn’t always about new stuff; in some
cases, it is as simple as cooperating to see if old things
or concepts can be used in different ways. The ability to
cooperate with a clear-eyed view of a common purpose
will also lead to solution generation with things we
already have. Showcased are the examples of extreme
change and continual transformation by big organi-
zations like Google and Facebook. But not all their
change was revolutionary or evolutionary; some was
disruptive. Many products used by these two business
powerhouses “were third generation iterations of tech-
nology that already existed.”6 They were simply used in
different ways. Cooperation means operating outside of
the vacuum to continually drive change.
Collaboration
Finally, the third variable to disruptive transforma-
tion is collaboration. Collaboration in this sense goes
beyond simply working together or as an extension of
cooperation. Collaboration drives disruptive transfor-
mation by creating breakthroughs. As described by Li,
these breakthroughs “are born from an uncanny ability
to see the future and direct all the resources of your
organization to chase after it.”7
Our own historical Army examples of this are the
“Big 5,” which have been used ad nauseum to illustrate
how modernization and transformation paid huge
dividends in the post-Vietnam era.8 The collabora-
tion across multiple commands to include the newly
formed Training and Doctrine Command and Forces
Command, both born in 1973, made possible the
DISRUPTION IS THE KEY
MILITARY REVIEW ONLINE EXCLUSIVE · FEBRUARY 2024
4
alignment of resources, energy, and effort to bring new
doctrine (AirLand Battle), equipment (the Big 5), and
organizations to fruition. Little was it known that the
force designed, and the envisioned employment would
play out in places like Panama and Iraq to great effect
versus the plains of Europe.
This may be the case again in an uncertain, disrup-
tive, and complex global security environment that
our Army will face and be required to contribute to
as part of a joint and multinational force. Therefore,
collaboration to see as deeply into the future as possi-
ble and to direct scarce resources to the fundamental
requirements necessary to contribute under multiple
conditions of war (conventional, irregular, hybrid, etc.)
will be how history will measure our success.
Conclusion
For continual transformation to achieve the out-
comes we desire, we must foster a culture that thrives
on disruptive change.
In terms of change, it is far easier to see what needs
to be done versus how it will get done. The adage of
there being more work in a “how” question than a
“why” or “what” question certainly rings true in this
case. Creativity, cooperation, and collaboration provide
the how to develop and sustain disruptive transforma-
tion to push against the status quo where necessary,
bureaucracy where needed, and complacency where
found. To gain the speed we need in the short amount
of time available, minimal disruption to the status quo
won’t exactly be a winning recipe.
Disruptive transformation is more of a cultur-
al mindset than innovation or technology; it is our
“how to” for continual transformation. Li posits,
“Innovation is the snooze button of corporate strategy,
pushing tough decisions into the future.”9 Creativity
will enable seeing the challenges of the future in
breadth and depth in some ways clouded by quick win
innovations. Cooperation allows us to break stove-
pipes to gain a better perspective of what is in the best
interest of the Army’s contribution to a joint fight, re-
gardless of theater and agnostic to conditions of war.
Collaboration puts us in a position to break through
the complexity of challenges that we will face in the
future versus succumbing to creating solutions that
are parochial, biased, or warfighting function centric.
As Gen. Donn Starry once described, collaboration
will enable us to operate from a “common cultural
bias” to solve complex problems.10
When the security environment is as complex as
what we will face in the future, we must tackle tough
decisions head on by developing creative solutions.
Future leaders of the Army of 20xx (what we describe
as 2030, 2040, or 2050), or “the future customer,” will
judge us not on a new piece of kit but rather how we
got it there. When you comb through the archives of
our post-Vietnam era history, the technology is the
least impressive thing that you will find. The most
impressive thing you will find is how leaders got there
through the persistence of collaboration, healthy coop-
eration, and a sense of urgency-driven creativity.
Disrupting the status quo doesn’t mean flipping the
apple cart, nor does it introduce a new term to use as the
next big buzzword. In a simple way and in simple terms,
it will help generate the speed, agility, and versatility
needed to keep pace with change and complexity.
Notes
1. Charlene Li, The Disruption Mindset: Why Some Organiza-
tions Transform While Others Fail (Oakton, VA: IdeaPress Publish-
ing, 2019), 5–7.
2. Ibid., 5.
3. Ibid., 1.
4. Ibid., 57–58.
5. Ibid., 127.
6. Ibid., 17.
7. Ibid.
8. “The U.S. Army Needs a ‘Small Five’ Modernization Strategy,”
Lexington Institute, 16 October 2015, https://www.lexingtoninsti-
tute.org/the-u-s-army-needs-a-small-five-modernization-strategy/.
9. Li, The Disruption Mindset, 5.
10. Donn A. Starry, “To Change an Army,” Military Review 63,
no. 3 (March 1983): 20–27.
US ISSN 0026-4148
– Disruption Is the Key to Delivering the Army of 20XX
– Creativity
– Cooperation
– Collaboration
– Conclusion
**## EssayAssignmentInstructions1.pdf**
Purpose The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate an understanding of
writing fundamentals and application of APA 7th ed. Guidelines.
Background
Information
The ability to write about a given topic from historical, philosophical,
rhetorical and/or cross-cultural and interdisciplinary perspectives is prudent
for today’s leaders. It allows leaders to demonstrate proficiency in creating a
shared understanding through written communication.
Topic
In the article, Disruption Is the Key to Delivering the Army of 20XX, the author
explains that creativity, cooperation, and collaboration at multiple levels in our
Army are the fundamental elements needed to produce formations at echelon
capable of winning our next battles and engagements.
In your essay, explain what is needed in our Army to support the creativity role.
Give three examples to support your argument (come up with your own).
What steps have you taken to support creativity?
Resource
Requirements
Writing Fundamentals Lesson (PowerPoint)
Writing Fundamentals Lesson (Video)
Article: Disruption Is the Key to Delivering the Army of 20XX
Expectations 1. Following the APA 7th ed. guidelines, write an essay. Your essay must:
-be a new sterile MS Word document
-include a Title page and Reference page (DO NOT include an abstract)
-be on the topic above
-include introduction and conclusion paragraphs
-be a maximum of two pages (the Title page and Reference page do
not count toward your two-page maximum)
-follow all rules of grammar, spelling, and punctuation (run a spelling and
grammar check before submission)
-include ONLY one reference and in-text citation, properly formatted IAW
APA 7th ed.
-use Times New Roman, 12pt font throughout
2. Upload and submit your essay for grading in blackboard by clicking on
the Essay Submission link.
3. Your essay will be evaluated on the expectations listed above, the
assignment rubric, and lesson material (review the Writing Fundamentals
lesson and assignment rubric before you start your essay).
ESSAY
**## DisruptionIstheKeytoDeliveringtheArmyof20XX1.pdf**
MILITARY REVIEW ONLINE EXCLUSIVE · FEBRUARY 2024
1
Lt. Gen. Milford Beagle Jr., U.S. Army , is the commanding general of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center on Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas, where he is responsible for integrating the modernization of the fielded Army across doctrine, organiza-
tion, training, materiel, leadership, personnel, facilities, and policy. He has served in multiple leadership capacities from platoon
through division levels, and his career deployments span the globe from Hawaii to the Republic of Korea. He previously served
as the commanding general of 10th Mountain Division (Light). He holds a BS from South Carolina State University, an MS from
Kansas State University, an MS from the School of Advanced Military Studies, and an MS from the Army War College.
Disruption Is the Key
to Delivering the Army
of 20XX
Lt. Gen. Milford H. Beagle Jr., U.S. Army
The chief of staff of the Army has deemed
continuous transformation as one of his four
focus areas. To understand what and how to
contribute to continuous transformation, leaders at
multiple levels require a common understanding of
the fundamental elements necessary to transform and
drive perpetual change. Bestselling author Charlene Li
explains that transforming organizations do so through
a path designed for the “future customer,” which
requires “leadership that creates a movement to drive
and sustain transformation … and a culture that thrives
on disruptive change.”1
Disruptive transformation “isn’t only about innova-
tion or technology.”2 It is largely a mindset and behavior
change among leadership teams. In other words, it sets
up organizations to thrive in a disruptive world. We must
view the future battlefield as a disruptive world, and in
doing so, leaders at multiple levels will be wise to heed a
comment made by N. R. Narayana Murthy, cofounder
of Infosys: “Growth is painful. Change is painful. But,
nothing is as painful as staying stuck where you do not
belong.”3 The changing nature of war and the creative
use of technology makes future battlefields transparent,
extended, and even more complex. It is the mindset of
embracing change, new ideas, and the associated behav-
iors such as creativity, cooperation, and collaboration
that will enable continuous transformation.
By 2030, the Army will field a new force capable
of winning on the future battlefield against a variety
of threats. Despite resource constraints that include
time, money, and people with competing global force
demands, rapid transformation is a tall task but not out
of reach. To transform, we must disrupt the status quo.
Creativity, cooperation, and collaboration at multiple
levels in our Army are the fundamental elements need-
ed to produce formations at echelon capable of winning
our next battles and engagements.
Creativity
Creativity enables the ability to expand problems
to an extent that new or alternative solutions tend to
jump out. Disruptive transformation relies on think-
ing bigger not smaller, accurately capturing risk, and
seeing as deeply into the future as possible. The role
of creativity in disruptive transformation will allow
us to shed biases and apprehension while illuminating
DISRUPTION IS THE KEY
2
possibilities. Our efforts to
experiment must be focused
on what doesn’t work versus
what will work. In the latter,
we run the risk of baking in a
conclusion of a solution work-
ing. Experience is what you
gain when you fail; therefore,
if all things are geared to suc-
ceed, we run the risk of failing
to learn and learn quickly.
Necessity accelerated
creativity over the past several
decades of war, but while
in an interwar window, the
urgency to be creative must
be accelerated. Using robots
to identify and disarm impro-
vised explosive devices (IEDs)
and synthetic aperture radars
to find IEDs are both examples
of necessity driving creativity
due to the high level of casu-
alties and injury caused by
IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Unmanned aircraft systems
(UAS), once exclusively used
for intelligence, surveillance,
and reconnaissance, are now
being considered for casualty
evacuation—a good example of
creative urgency based on the
technology available and the
host of uses for UASs under
multiple conditions of war.
Creativity means full com-
mitment to change, and as
insurance, avoid the tempta-
tion to turn back by burning
the boats. Creative thinking
also brings into focus the term
“burning the boats.” This is a
reference to Alexander the
Great’s conquering the Persian
Empire. In 334 BCE, after
sailing a large fleet across the
Hellespont Strait into Persian
Left: Future general and president Dwight D. Eisenhower served at Camp Meade, Mary-
land, following World War I. Right: As a temporary lieutenant colonel, George S. Patton Jr.,
of the 1st Tank Battalion, stands in front of a French Renault tank in summer 1918. (Photos
courtesy of the National Archives)
Prominent Disrupters
Following World War I, Maj. George S. Patton and Capt. Dwight “Ike”
Eisenhower shared a passionate vision regarding the evolution of tank
warfare, publishing articles in professional military journals extolling the
importance of tanks to the future of the Army. The articles were disrup-
tive to given wisdom of the time with respect to the “proper” role of tanks
as they related to infantry. In the case of Eisenhower, he was threatened
with court martial if he published further on the subject for advocating
“dangerous” ideas. Notwithstanding, in time, Patton’s and Eisenhower’s
ideas significantly influenced the direction of the Army’s operational and
tactical employment of armor.
To read the article “Comments on ‘Cavalry Tanks’” by Maj. George S.
Patton Jr., see the November-December 2015 edition of Military Review at
https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/
English/MilitaryReview_20151231_art009.pdf.
To read Eisenhower’s article, “A Tank Discussion,” from the November
1920 edition of the Infantry Journal, visit https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/
digital/collection/p4013coll7/id/799/. For more detail on the contribu-
tions of Eisenhower as an early advocate of developing tank warfare, see
“The Making of a General: Ike, the Tank, and the Interwar Years” by Lt.
Col. (Ret.) Thomas Morgan at https://armyhistory.org/the-making-of-a-
general-ike-the-tank-and-the-interwar-years/.
[https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20151231_a](https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20151231_a)
[https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20151231_a](https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20151231_a)
[https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll7/id/799/](https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll7/id/799/)
[https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll7/id/799/](https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll7/id/799/)
[https://armyhistory.org/the-making-of-a-general-ike-the-tank-and-the-interwar-years/](https://armyhistory.org/the-making-of-a-general-ike-the-tank-and-the-interwar-years/)
[https://armyhistory.org/the-making-of-a-general-ike-the-tank-and-the-interwar-years/](https://armyhistory.org/the-making-of-a-general-ike-the-tank-and-the-interwar-years/)
DISRUPTION IS THE KEY
MILITARY REVIEW ONLINE EXCLUSIVE · FEBRUARY 2024
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The adage ‘better to have and not need than to need
and not have’ counters everything about creativity and
disruptive transformation. Creativity allows freer and
bigger thinking even when resources are constrained.
territory, Alexander ordered the ships to be burned. To
his men’s dismay, he stated that we will either die here
or return on Persian ships.4
Creativity will require us to burn some boats. The
temptation can’t be to hold onto what we had because
of the uncertainty of the next solution. In this sense,
the adage “better to have and not need than to need
and not have” counters everything about creativity and
disruptive transformation. Creativity allows freer and
bigger thinking even when resources are constrained.
The simple ability to solve new problems in new ways
and in some cases with old things affords a level of
creative freedom across our force. The anchor of hold-
ing onto the old while trying to create the new simply
won’t work. Conversely, if we find ourselves in need but
don’t have, a lack of creativity can be the first place we
may want to look.
Cooperation
Delivering the Army of 20XX will require a higher
degree of cooperation inside and outside of our en-
terprise than ever to make our operational concepts
come to fruition. Dominic Barton, head of McKinsey,
once asserted that “we love to tell other people to
change, but it’s not fun when you’re the one chang-
ing.”5 In this sense, we must act together in an effort
to achieve a common purpose, which is the essence of
cooperation. For disruptive transformation to occur,
cooperation is not the byproduct of developing big
ideas in a vacuum; the desired outcome is the sharing
of the big ideas with others to find solutions. Linked
to the previous behavior, cooperation brings about
even more creativity.
Within the Training and Doctrine Command,
there are many shining examples of robust cooperation
occurring at the center of excellence (COE) level. As
one example, the Cyber COE in conjunction with the
community of experts across network requirements
determined that system requirements designed in iso-
lation fail to account for aggregate compute, store, and
transport requirements. As another example, multiple
COEs cooperated with the Aviation COE to determine
that having specialty UASs for each branch or function
is not feasible, but common airframes capable of carry-
ing a variety of payloads is a better way forward.
Disruption isn’t always about new stuff; in some
cases, it is as simple as cooperating to see if old things
or concepts can be used in different ways. The ability to
cooperate with a clear-eyed view of a common purpose
will also lead to solution generation with things we
already have. Showcased are the examples of extreme
change and continual transformation by big organi-
zations like Google and Facebook. But not all their
change was revolutionary or evolutionary; some was
disruptive. Many products used by these two business
powerhouses “were third generation iterations of tech-
nology that already existed.”6 They were simply used in
different ways. Cooperation means operating outside of
the vacuum to continually drive change.
Collaboration
Finally, the third variable to disruptive transforma-
tion is collaboration. Collaboration in this sense goes
beyond simply working together or as an extension of
cooperation. Collaboration drives disruptive transfor-
mation by creating breakthroughs. As described by Li,
these breakthroughs “are born from an uncanny ability
to see the future and direct all the resources of your
organization to chase after it.”7
Our own historical Army examples of this are the
“Big 5,” which have been used ad nauseum to illustrate
how modernization and transformation paid huge
dividends in the post-Vietnam era.8 The collabora-
tion across multiple commands to include the newly
formed Training and Doctrine Command and Forces
Command, both born in 1973, made possible the
DISRUPTION IS THE KEY
MILITARY REVIEW ONLINE EXCLUSIVE · FEBRUARY 2024
4
alignment of resources, energy, and effort to bring new
doctrine (AirLand Battle), equipment (the Big 5), and
organizations to fruition. Little was it known that the
force designed, and the envisioned employment would
play out in places like Panama and Iraq to great effect
versus the plains of Europe.
This may be the case again in an uncertain, disrup-
tive, and complex global security environment that
our Army will face and be required to contribute to
as part of a joint and multinational force. Therefore,
collaboration to see as deeply into the future as possi-
ble and to direct scarce resources to the fundamental
requirements necessary to contribute under multiple
conditions of war (conventional, irregular, hybrid, etc.)
will be how history will measure our success.
Conclusion
For continual transformation to achieve the out-
comes we desire, we must foster a culture that thrives
on disruptive change.
In terms of change, it is far easier to see what needs
to be done versus how it will get done. The adage of
there being more work in a “how” question than a
“why” or “what” question certainly rings true in this
case. Creativity, cooperation, and collaboration provide
the how to develop and sustain disruptive transforma-
tion to push against the status quo where necessary,
bureaucracy where needed, and complacency where
found. To gain the speed we need in the short amount
of time available, minimal disruption to the status quo
won’t exactly be a winning recipe.
Disruptive transformation is more of a cultur-
al mindset than innovation or technology; it is our
“how to” for continual transformation. Li posits,
“Innovation is the snooze button of corporate strategy,
pushing tough decisions into the future.”9 Creativity
will enable seeing the challenges of the future in
breadth and depth in some ways clouded by quick win
innovations. Cooperation allows us to break stove-
pipes to gain a better perspective of what is in the best
interest of the Army’s contribution to a joint fight, re-
gardless of theater and agnostic to conditions of war.
Collaboration puts us in a position to break through
the complexity of challenges that we will face in the
future versus succumbing to creating solutions that
are parochial, biased, or warfighting function centric.
As Gen. Donn Starry once described, collaboration
will enable us to operate from a “common cultural
bias” to solve complex problems.10
When the security environment is as complex as
what we will face in the future, we must tackle tough
decisions head on by developing creative solutions.
Future leaders of the Army of 20xx (what we describe
as 2030, 2040, or 2050), or “the future customer,” will
judge us not on a new piece of kit but rather how we
got it there. When you comb through the archives of
our post-Vietnam era history, the technology is the
least impressive thing that you will find. The most
impressive thing you will find is how leaders got there
through the persistence of collaboration, healthy coop-
eration, and a sense of urgency-driven creativity.
Disrupting the status quo doesn’t mean flipping the
apple cart, nor does it introduce a new term to use as the
next big buzzword. In a simple way and in simple terms,
it will help generate the speed, agility, and versatility
needed to keep pace with change and complexity.
Notes
1. Charlene Li, The Disruption Mindset: Why Some Organiza-
tions Transform While Others Fail (Oakton, VA: IdeaPress Publish-
ing, 2019), 5–7.
2. Ibid., 5.
3. Ibid., 1.
4. Ibid., 57–58.
5. Ibid., 127.
6. Ibid., 17.
7. Ibid.
8. “The U.S. Army Needs a ‘Small Five’ Modernization Strategy,”
Lexington Institute, 16 October 2015, https://www.lexingtoninsti-
tute.org/the-u-s-army-needs-a-small-five-modernization-strategy/.
9. Li, The Disruption Mindset, 5.
10. Donn A. Starry, “To Change an Army,” Military Review 63,
no. 3 (March 1983): 20–27.
US ISSN 0026-4148
– Disruption Is the Key to Delivering the Army of 20XX
– Creativity
– Cooperation
– Collaboration
– Conclusion