Our CEO and co-founder, Andrew Powell, was recently invited to speak at the Defense Acquisition University’s flagship event: Reimagining Readiness: The Future of Warfare.
About Defense Acquisition University
Defense Acquisition University (DAU), is a corporate university of the United States Department of Defense offering Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (AT&L) training to military and Federal civilian staff and Federal contractors. DAU’s mission is to provide a global learning environment to develop qualified acquisition, requirements and contingency professionals who deliver and sustain effective and affordable warfighting capabilities.
The Importance of Reimagining Readiness
Dr. William LaPlante, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, recognized that reimagining readiness is at the forefront of DoD training initiatives. Drawing from diverse experiences and perspectives facilitates the exploration of new ideas.
DAU President Jim Woolsey echoed this sentiment, beginning with a reminder to his audience that reimagining is a skill set when looking to competitors like Russia and China
“We must consider how we support and develop our workforce; understand and embrace the digital transformation and how it can provide a winning advantage,” LaPlante said. “We need to be thinking of what the future of warfare will look like so we can prepare today.”
For Inspiration, Look to Super Bowl Champions
From his experience, Andrew suggests that the DoD draw inspiration from how top-performing sports teams train their players. “I’m fascinated by how people learn faster, and I’ve spent years working with football teams to optimize how they train their players.”
“I’ve found that the teams that learn the fastest, win,” he said. Referencing Learn to Win’s work with the L.A. Rams, Andrew shared that the way that the Rams prepared for the Super Bowl has implications for how we should think about military readiness.
Why Rapid Learning Matters Outside of Sports
Fortunately, a football team’s methods to learn fast and win apply beyond sports. Look no further than recent events in Ukraine.
When the Russian military blocked Ukrainian internet, the American tech company, SpaceX, responded by sending Starlink Terminals to Ukraine to get the country back online. Russia then jammed those devices, but SpaceX pushed out software updates that stopped the jamming within hours.
“How were they able to do that so quickly?” asked Andrew. “We could go all into much more detail on this, but the simple reason is that the way that SpaceX works is much more like a football team huddling than a faculty senate meeting. Because of Agile, SpaceX could react so quickly to change.”
The Key to Readiness: Agile Learning
Whether on the football field or cyber-warfare landscape, adaptability is key. Both the LA Rams and SpaceX embraced agile methodologies that helped them outmaneuver their opponents.
Agile is a way of working that emphasizes flexibility. It ensures that your team has what you need to win, no matter what unexpected obstacles you encounter.
The Rams constantly assessed their team’s knowledge throughout the week before a game, identifying knowledge gaps and targeting them in practices. SpaceX ran agile sprints in response to Russian cyber attacks.
“The best way to reimagine readiness in the DoD is to apply the principles of Agile to how we develop people,” he said. The DoD needs to “break out of the faculty senate mold and prepare for the future fight with the intensity of a team preparing for the Super Bowl.”
Three Steps to Adopting Agile Warfare
Andrew’s keynote zeroed in on three concrete steps the DoD can take to become more agile: Focus on the Last Mile, Prioritize One Concept at a Time, and Make Learning Cycles Fast.
1. Focus on Last Mile Knowledge
Don’t waste training energy on the generic knowledge that everyone already knows. A team succeeds when they begin focusing on the knowledge and skills unique to their team. This is their Last Mile Knowledge.
The challenge with Last Mile Knowledge is that it is unique to every organization, so it can’t be bought off-the-shelf. It lives in top-performers’ heads, so organizations need to find ways to capture and share that training gold.
“So, our first question to ponder – what’s the Last Mile Knowledge that’s essential for your team?” asked Andrew. “Is it captured anywhere outside your top performers’ heads?”
2. Prioritize on One Concept at a Time
Once your team’s Last Mile Knowledge has been identified, the next step is to decide where to focus your energy. In agile, teams constantly run ‘sprints’ of fast learning cycles, focusing on one important topic at a time.
But choosing where to focus can be difficult. This is why using performance data is critical to highlighting knowledge gaps.
Football coaches use the data from film to identify the largest weaknesses in their teams. They then pick the highest priority topic, practice it, then move to the next one in rapid succession.
“My second question for you is this,” posed Andrew. “What is the gamefilm on your team, and what does it say are the highest priority topics to tackle first?”
3. Make Learning Cycles Fast
Agile learning relies on fast, iterative loops. Fast loops are why the LA Rams won the Super Bowl. Fast loops are how SpaceX restored the internet in Ukraine. These organizations are built for change.
To successfully use agile loops, teams need to use simple systems that require little expertise to create effective training. A subject matter expert with Last Mile Knowledge needs to be able to make updates and new training materials quickly and easily.
“The name of the game is this,” claimed Andrew. “Remove as many bottlenecks as possible in the process of last mile training.”
What's Your Question 9?
Andrew concluded his presentation by sharing a glimpse of actual learner data: the results of a knowledge gap assessment from one of Learn to Win’s athletics customers.
“You can see that most of the players missed Question #9. This alerted the coaching staff that there was a knowledge gap they needed to address”
What sorts of tactical errors do you wish you could know about in your team before it results in a real world mistake? How well-equipped are you to respond rapidly when the time comes?
“That’s the promise of agile learning. Now you’ve got the tools to start implementing it in your own organizations,” Andrew said, challenging his audience. “Pick a last mile knowledge area, focus on a single topic, and try to fill it as quickly as possible.”
For more information on Agile Training, check out our blog series “The Agile Learning Guide for Sales Leaders: A Micro-Series”.
