While military units are beginning to transform themselves, many businesses must also adapt to rapidly-changing conditions.  The lessons of transformation are universal and transferable.

by Dan Perkins

based on an article by K.L. Vantran
American Forces Press Service

Arthur K. Cebrowski has a few ideas about transforming organizations.  He is director of force transformation at the Department of Defense (DoD) and he reports directly to the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. 

Cebrowski is fulfilling President Bush's broad mandate to transform America's military.  That mandate requires Cebrowski to challenge the status quo by introducing new concepts, processes and procedures designed to ensure the overwhelming and continuing competitive advantage of that nation's Armed Forces.

On February 11, 2004, Cebrowski spoke about effective force transformation to a gathering at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Defense 2004 Conference in Washington, DC.

"It is no longer enough to be a good manager focusing on efficiency and optimization, it is more important to be a good manager and a transformational leader," Cebrowski told the assembly.

"The role of good management, of the transformational leader, is to look at and identify perfectly predictable surprises and act in advance," he continued.  "The responsibilities of transformational leaders are to identify disparities before they take place and stop wasting time with optimizations and efficiencies that will be irrelevant in the face of policy changes."

The retired admiral said while "it's nice to be upbeat and point to the future," it is also necessary to look at the barriers to desired change.

Effective Transformation through Effective Leadership

Cebrowski cited four barriers that leaders must address in order to effectively bring about desired transformations: process, physical, fiscal and cultural.

According to Cebrowski, overcoming physical barriers involves moving things as needed, including information. Cebrowski told the gathering that more progress is being made in the information domain, but he stressed the need for both physical changes and process changes. Cebrowski said it is necessary to attack the processes that are preventing progress.

The director said fiscal barriers, particularly those pertaining to the notion of balance between discretionary and non-discretionary areas, are a "primary calling for leadership."

"One of the great rules for transformation," he said, "is if you want to transform, go where the money is, and on arrival, change the rules. That's what we have to do."

"To the extent that we fail to expand the discretionary areas of the budget is the measure of where we need to expand our courage, because that's what it takes to deal with it," Cebrowski added.

"Leaders must be willing to "devalue" things," continued Cebrowski, and he made his point by citing an example from World War II.  He recalled how, after the war, the U.S. Navy realized it was in serious trouble. "Their effectiveness was largely based on the ability to mass the fleet and conduct amphibious assault. In the face of nuclear weapons, it realized this was folly. What was the Navy to do?"

"When something like this happens, it calls into question your way of doing business and tells you that some things will have to be devalued."

Cebrowski noted that the Navy began pursuing a nuclear weapons program.  He observed that the world seemed fairly safe when nuclear weapons were "in the hands of fairly responsible people," but he cautioned that things have changed.  "Now there is a proliferation problem and nuclear weapons are "not necessarily in the hands of responsible people," said Cebrowski.

And just as the military had to redefine its role and capabilities in response to the Cold War, the military today must change in order to respond effectively to new challenges and more volatile conditions in the world. 

An effective response will require a change in the culture of the military, and as Cebrowski sees it, cultural change is a leadership issue. "Culture is what leaders believe and how leaders behave," said the transformation chief.

The Secretary of Defense has made it clear that he intends to pursue President Bush's mandate for a change in the military, and Cebrowski is equally committed to that charge.  

Cebrowski was appointed by the Secretary of Defense as Director, Force Transformation effective 29 October 2001.  A native of Passaic, New Jersey, Cebrowski graduated from Villanova University in 1964 and holds a Masters Degree in Computer Systems Management from the Naval Post Graduate School.  He also attended the Naval War College.

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