The article takes me back to my time at Eisenhower. Looking over my notes, I’m reminded of Barry Posen’s point that real innovation in the military only happens when statesmen step in, backed by maverick officers willing to push against the norm. I think the same applies to technology as a profession, that is, change won’t happen on its own, it needs deliberate leadership and bold insiders ready to challenge the status quo.
Right! The “experiment mindset” is the operationalization of it. If you frame things as hypothesis testing rather than plan execution, you create permission to iterate without losing credibility
Feaver’s principal-agent framing maps perfectly to tech org dynamics. The missing piece: tech officers need willingness to be publicly wrong fast. That’s what makes Cohen’s unequal dialogue actually work.
The article takes me back to my time at Eisenhower. Looking over my notes, I’m reminded of Barry Posen’s point that real innovation in the military only happens when statesmen step in, backed by maverick officers willing to push against the norm. I think the same applies to technology as a profession, that is, change won’t happen on its own, it needs deliberate leadership and bold insiders ready to challenge the status quo.
Right! The “experiment mindset” is the operationalization of it. If you frame things as hypothesis testing rather than plan execution, you create permission to iterate without losing credibility
Feaver’s principal-agent framing maps perfectly to tech org dynamics. The missing piece: tech officers need willingness to be publicly wrong fast. That’s what makes Cohen’s unequal dialogue actually work.
Yes, this all depends on the ability to run "experiments" -- try things, see what works and adjust accordingly!