Editorial: Change champions | ADM Mar 2010
Katherine Ziesing | Canberra
At the ADM2010 Congress last month, many speakers reflected on the need for cultural change and for more trust between Defence and Industry, from both sides of the equation.
The mooing of sacred cows was loud and clear during the presentations with speakers questioning workforce levels in Defence, the trade offs between risk, schedule and capability plus the ever-present reluctance to bite the hand that feeds you by perhaps asking timely pointed questions of the Defence customer.
The 2009 ADM DMO/Industry Team of the Year Awards for Excellence certainly demonstrated how DMO and Industry can work together to produce an outcome that benefits both parties.
The outcomes achieved by these teams are a great example of what can be done when the DMO/Industry relationship is healthy.
And yet, the need for cultural change, particularly in Defence was highlighted frequently.
This agency-wide change is essential if the Strategic Reform Program is to meet its ambitious targets year on year.
SRP guru Shireanne McKinnie in ADM's From the Source last month said that change will be the new ‘business as usual' for DMO but it's hard to see how much change there can be without a visible change champion leading the way.
Perhaps the ‘imminent' arrival of the long awaited Commercial Manager at DMO as announced by Greg Combet at the Congress will be the knight in shining armour.
When encouraging innovation, through either new technology or the new application of current technology, a champion is needed within the organisation to drive the program, reflected Deputy Chief Defence Scientist (Information and Weapon Systems), Dr Warren Harch.
It takes a dedicated person or body such as the Defence Industry Innovation Centre or one of the Cooperative Research Centres to push through the process driven and change resistant environment of Defence bureaucracy.
Research from ADM's own Gregor Ferguson paints a different picture: Defence is not as risk averse or conservative as we think.
The R&D spend in Defence compared to other industries is greater than average but the ‘valley of death' between a great idea and commercialisation is just as wide as other industries, if not wider.
Again, a change champion needs to appear.
There may be change champions within Defence now, waiting for the right time to step up.
Now is the right time to step up.
Trust key to defence business
Gregor Ferguson | Sydney
If our interview subject in this month's From the Source, Jim Whalley of Nova Defence, is correct, then Australia's defence community may have passed an interesting milestone.
In recent years Defence and Industry have devoted money, time and effort to developing much-needed technical skills.
The success of the SADI program is a testament to the DMO's foresight in this regard.
However, as Jim Whalley argues there's been very little done on developing the leadership and management skills of industry.
The primes would disagree - but they have the resources to invest in training their managers.
Smaller firms don't and this issue affects the entire national economy.
Again, the DMO is to be congratulated for identifying this challenge and investing in the project management skills.
Theirs is a lead which industry must follow because the next challenge for both Defence and Industry is emerging: convincing each other they have the management and technical skills and processes to deliver the next wave of complex projects.
At last month's ADM2010 Congress, Greg Combet highlighted the five important lessons learned from what he termed ‘problem projects'.
These problems can all be solved by up-skilling the defence community - by enabling people to work smarter, not harder, and building the mutual trust and confidence that's essential if we are to avoid the problems (and occasional disasters) of the past.
Trust and risk were two of the topics canvassed most frequently.
The closer we come to the leading edge of technology the greater the technical and schedule risk we face.
Users must understand their needs clearly; users, procurers and suppliers must understand the technology implications of those needs; suppliers must also show they understand the user's needs, schedule drivers and budgetary constraints.
Business skills are as important as technical skills.
It will take a joint effort by Defence and Industry to harvest the $20 billion worth of efficiency dividends sought under the Strategic Reform Program and this will demand a new business approach by smart people who trust each other to do the right and sensible thing.
If Defence and Industry develop and demonstrate the necessary skills, the shared obligations of the SRP probably ensure the trust will follow.