 What have you learned about being innovative and making changes?

Innovation doesn’t happen by accident. Merely understanding the factors that led to initial success are
not what keeps an organization relevant, it’s the ability to continual evaluate the environment in which
you operate, internally and externally. Self-reflection and honest discussions about what works, what
doesn’t, and when it’s right to abandon a dead-end practice, are the keys to finding innovation. Creative
destruction is a term and idea that struck a chord as I read through the text. Embracing change, and
staying relevant is more important that trying to prove that you were right or had the best idea.

 What does strategy mean to you?

Strategy is the process of developing a vision for the future, and the process to get there. It’s an
adaptive and dynamic process that is constantly reevaluated for relevance and perspective. Strategy
isn’t about building a path to immediate success, but rather what the organization wants to represent in
the future, as in what is the purpose, why do we do what we do, and why should customers or
consumers care. Stakeholders must understand the path and actions in order to remain invested in that
vision, we’re all drawn to a cause; finding, maintaining, and evolving that cause is the essence of
strategy.

 What have you been able to implement in your current life?

Interestingly enough, my current office is going through a major culture change and restructure. As a
newly appointed leader in the organization, I’ve had to conduct a SWOT analysis of a caustic office
culture in one of our divisions in order to define a strategy to cultivate change. Since human beings will
naturally resist change and negative feedback and perceptions, I needed to use a method that
emphasized not only the negatives of the environment, but also the strengths and positive processes.
While it’s still too early to judge the effectiveness of this strategy, my fellow leadership triad is fully
behind the process and excited to see positive changes in our organization.

 What are you going to do differently tomorrow because of this class

(besides sleep)?

While I’ve always been a proponent of improving processes and efficiencies, I’ve not necessarily looked
at it from a strategic point of view. As member of a larger organization, how do I influence change and
rapid adoption of better practices to stay with and ahead of change? It all starts with knowing the vision
and true purpose of the organization that you belong to. Why do they exist, what service or product do
they offer that no one else can, or can provide as well as others? Understanding my organization’s
competitive advantage is a challenge. Being part of a military entity means that we face less direct
commercial market competition, instead we face nation-state competition. In short, what I’m doing
tomorrow and the day after that is to reevaluate everything our organization does and whether or not it
fits with our strategy and aligns with the competitive advantages we currently hold, while seeking new
ones.