U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command
ARDEC’s Strategic Planning and Innovation
Mike Zecca
Jim Caiazzo
HSATM
July17, 2012
VISION
MISSION
Armament Research,
Development & Engineering Center
Empower, unburden and protect the
Warfighter by providing superior
armaments solutions that dominate the
battlefield.
Innovative Armaments
Solutions for Today and
Tomorrow
2
ARDEC Strategic Planning Horizon
• Scope: Integrating Multiple Horizons…
– Strategic Planning 1-10 yr horizon
• Focus: Near-term objectives and initiatives – ends, ways, and
means
– Scenario Building 10-20 yr horizon
• Focus: Effects
– Strategic Foresight 20+ years
• Focus: Competency-wide
ARDEC Strategic Management System
Foundational principles of ARDEC’s Strategic Management System
1. Incorporation of Industry Best Practices:
 Lykke “Ends, Ways, Means” Model balances risk
 Balanced Scorecard ensures balanced efforts & outcomes
2. Strategic Alignment:
 External - Army, AMC, RDECOM, JM&L & TACOM LCMCs Strategies
 Internal - ARDEC Center Plans, Competency Plans
3. Top Leadership Engagement: SESs (top resource owners) serve as End Champions
4. Workforce Engagement: Top-down/Bottom-up approach used during planning to
achieve buy-in upfront
5. Measurement: Strategic Workout Session (SWS) occurs quarterly with senior
leadership to monitor and control progress
6.
Continuous Improvement of ARDEC Strategic Planning:
 Strategic Planning Process is improved by incorporating feedback from
multiple sources into the PDCA Cycle
 Strategic Direction is “re-zeroed” by incorporating feedback from Official
Channels into SMS Map
ARDEC
Strategic Management System
ARDEC Strategy:
Disciplined calculation
of overarching
objectives, initiatives,
and resources within
acceptable bounds of
risk
ARDEC SMS:
Consolidates strategy
into a single holistic
view for communicating
our strategies in terms
of Ends, Ways, Means
U.S. Army CSA SSG
The Strategic Studies Group (SSG) provides the Chief of Staff of the
United States Army (CSA) with independent, unconventional, and
revolutionary research and analysis on topics related to operational and
strategic concepts for land forces.
• Independent: Reports exclusively to the CSA and is empowered to
engage and leverage the resources and intellectual capacity of external
organizations.
• Unconventional: Provides the CSA an unconstrained view of potential
approaches to challenges and is unencumbered by traditional practices
and methodologies.
• Revolutionary: Conducts research and analysis focused expressly on
devising innovative concepts and approaches to future challenges and
opportunities.
Scenario Building
•
To what end – for what purpose
– Expands the potential for generative, collective knowledge → generating a
meaningful reality
•
Simply stated, scenarios are
– A space to play with possibilities, and the practices coherent with the existing
intelligibility, and evaluate them against alternatives
•
Accomplished through
– a diverse array of propositions, arguments, metaphors, etc.
•
What have we gained
– Increased understanding of multi-dimensional, multi-level emerging dynamics
– Ability to see problems or issues in a new way
– Shared understanding
key uncertainties and
scenario logics
selecting the
scenario spaces
scenario stories:
the business
idea(buildreview-test)
most robust path
given array of
potential futures
risk
management &
contingency
planning
What Is Strategic Foresight?
Strategic foresight (SF) is the practice of creating a functional view
of the future, or future events and possibilities, in such a way as to
take full advantage of opportunities, as well as to prepare for
possible adversities.
The idea of strategic foresight arose from the idea that while the
future is not predictable, it is also not predetermined, and can be
influenced in a positive way by actions we take in the present.
This mode of thinking is often used in the context of business, and
encourages those making business decisions to structure their
plans based on future opportunities rather than past events.
8
Value of Strategic Foresight
 Provides Senior Leaders better fidelity of the
future.
 Inculcates SF into Workforce thinking.
 Shapes ARDEC’s desired future, rather than
waiting for the future to just happen.
 Aligns ARDEC’s and the Warfighter’s future.
9
DATA COLLECTION
STEEP Data Collection
STEEP
S ocial
T echnological
E conomical
E nvironmental
P olitical
10
What IS Innovation?
Creativity
Generation of new and/or novel ideas
Innovation
A new invention or idea that solves a current problem or exploits a new opportunity, all
resulting in a quantifiable gain.
ARDEC Innovation Examples
Innovation Continuum
EXPANSIONARY
EVOLUTIONARY
(Incremental)
Challenges the problem definition
Seeks solutions from existing concepts
to do things better
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The Continuous Improvement
Movement (6 Sigma)
OGPK
Picatinny Blast Shield
Shaped Charge Assembly
EM113A2 – Rapid Entry Vehicle
M110 7.62mm Semi Automatic
Sniper System
LHMBC
•
•
•
•
Rarefaction Wave Gun
M982 Excalibur
M100 Grande Entry Munition
MOFA
REVOLUTIONARY
(Breakthrough)
Redefines the problem definition to
break boundaries & create new
paradigms
•
CLGG Gun
Increase in ARDEC Programs
© 2010 Idea Connection Systems, Inc. All right reserved.
Innovation – Army Greatest
Invention Awards
ARDEC supports a culture of innovation focused on the delivery of breakthrough
and leap-ahead technologies. We provide experienced inventors to mentor and
teach innovation processes to our workforce; facilities for collaboration,
prototyping and libraries, and online tools for research and documentation
INFRARED ILLUMINATION CARTRIDGE
ENHANCED PERFORMANCE ROUND
GREEN EYES ESCALATION OF FORCE KIT
LIGHTWEIGHT MEDIUM MACHINE GUN
JACKAL EXPLOSIVE HAZARD
PRE-DETONATION SYSTEM
MORTAR FIRE CONTROL SYSTEM
Won 6 Out of the Top 10 Army Greatest Invention
Awards for 2011 and 30 out of 90 Since 2002
We Help You
Find a Home For Your Idea!
Secure & Enhance
Capture
Shaping
OSI
Idea
Originator
& Catalyst
OSI
IDEAS
Peer’s
Seek
Sponsor
OSI
Consult, Refine & Communicate
Experts
Feasibility & Business Case Development
Sponsor Secured
ARDEC
Development
Process
OSI – Originator
Shelves Idea