March 22, 2021
Want an Agile Pentagon? Don’t Go Chasing ‘Waterfalls’
In the absence of something better, the Pentagon churns out strategies every four years, releases already-outdated guidance and concepts, and issues five-year spending programs that would be familiar to Soviet planners. It is no way to keep ahead of China’s military modernization or technological disruption. There is a better way to manage complex processes like these, and some Pentagon and Congressional staff know it — if only they would just use it.
It’s called agile development — a concept from the software industry, where it has largely replaced the traditional “waterfall” method. The Biden administration should apply the same principle for developing strategy and translating it into concepts and capabilities.
Clinging to familiar, outdated processes will provide little comfort when China surpasses the United States as the world’s foremost military power.
In the waterfall method, software developers collect requirements in spreadsheets, hand them off to engineers who did not always understand the root problems their products were solving, and then delivered technical solutions that sometimes were outdated by the time they released the software. This should sound unsettlingly familiar to anyone in the Defense Department’s requirements and acquisition processes.
Read the full article from Defense One.
More from CNAS
-
Experts Make Their Picks for Acquisition Reform Litmus Tests
Commentary
If the department cannot pass these easy tests, there is little reason to believe it will do well on the harder ones....
By Stacie Pettyjohn
-
Trump Rues State of Iran Talks, Says Prefer Not to Strike
Video
President Donald Trump expressed displeasure with the current state of negotiations with Iran but stopped short of threatening fresh military action in the nine-week conflict ...
By Becca Wasser
-
Leveraging the Defense Innovation Ecosystem for Maximum Effect
Commentary
Introduction At a moment when the resilience of the wartime acquisition system is a national priority, start-ups, primes, investors, and the U.S. government must align to turn...
By Aaron Peterman & Sohaila Mali
-
Markets React as Trump Orders Military Action in Hormuz
Video
President Trump orders the U.S. military to target any boat laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, escalating tensions with Iran and sending oil prices sharply higher. Bloomber...
By Becca Wasser
