FORT BELVOIR, Va. –
When people think of the word “transformation,” they automatically assume something is broken. The Defense Logistics Agency’s logistics operations director said that’s not the case with the agency during a panel discussion on “Strategic Insights for DLA’s Futures-Focused Culture” at the McNamara Headquarters Complex Oct. 24.
The agency is very good at what it does and is transforming because the world has changed and the chances of a long conflict have increased, Air Force Maj. Gen. David Sanford said. The agency’s ability to plan, execute objectives and experience results under the agency’s new strategic plan’s four Ps will transformative the agency’s culture, he added.
DLA’s Futures Integrated Process Team hosted the discussion to gain best practices and lessons learned from retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Clint Hinote and retired Marine Corps Brig. Gen. AJ Pasagian, who were both instrumental in moving their services forward.
Hinote led the Air Force’s transformation efforts after the signing of 2018 National Defense Strategy, which changed the joint force operationally.
Hinote told the audience that you don’t have to be Einstein to transform an organization. He challenged the agency’s leaders to consider that the pace of change has accelerated. Organizations have a choice to adapt to the environment or be disrupted.
“You just need to understand what role the agency will play, what change is needed, and how the agency can serve,” Hinote said. “This is something that I think this organization is ready to do.”
Hinote said organizations can’t operate in the new environment with the paradigms of the old environment. He also said that future thinking is not easy but requires some discomfort and being open to not actually knowing what the organization is going to do about a specific problem or challenge they face at the time.
“An organization, in a very healthy way, can look inward at itself to determine its own readiness,” Hinote said. “The organization has to be ready to break down the problems and begin to solve them, but you can’t solve them solely within your own offices.”
Hinote praised the strategic thinking and decision making behind the Marine Corps’ recent transformation, which served as a case study to guide the conversation.
Pasagian said he knew the need for change was imminent when his service was under threat in the Indo-Pacific Command area of operations and they no longer had supremacy of the air, maritime and shore. The service had freedom of movement in the area throughout his military career prior to the 2018 National Defense Strategy.
“We had to identify what goods, services and people that we needed to divest of immediately,” he said. “We also scanned the environment and immediately realized that that there were effective weapons and IT systems that would replace the old legacy systems, and within three years we were off and running.”
Pasagian added that the necessary change occurred after the Marine Corps looked at the way it engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan, then shifted back to the way Marines supported the Navy and joint force traditionally.
Transformation is often met with institutional resistance, requiring an aligned and synchronized strategic communications plan and crosstalk within, outside and across the services, Pasagian said.
“You have to be able to speak to the retired generals, elected officials, and their constituents and petitioners, who were very critical of what we were trying to do,” he said. “Ahead of the haste of making your decisions, make sure that you unify the message from the top-down and left to right before taking on these types of institutional changes.”
Hinote shared an analogy between the various change management models to drive the point that organizational change is about leading human beings not robots. He said there will be people who will be downright hostile to change, but that’s okay.
“They [people] have feelings, emotions and they matter,” he said. “Change is naturally uncomfortable to us, so organizations require leaders that are 100% committed to the change and 100% committed to leading people through the change.”
To view the panel discussion, view a recording of the event (A DLA common access card is required to view).