Change Management, Pentagon Style

In what's being called the first removal of a wartime battlefield commander since Truman's ouster of Douglas MacArthur in Korea, Defense Secretary Robert A. Gates announced yesterday that he was replacing Gen. David D. McKiernan with Gen. Stanley A. McCrystal as commander of NATO and US forces in Afghanistan. In his statement, Secretary Gates said:

“I believe that our mission [in Afghanistan] requires new thinking and new approaches from our military leaders,” Gates told reporters. “Today, we have a new policy set by our new president. We have a new strategy, a new mission and a new ambassador. I believe that new military leadership is needed.”

And...

“At a time when we’re at the beginning of the implementation of a new strategy … it is in that context that I emphasize that the focus is getting fresh thinking, fresh eyes on the problems,” he added.

Why do I care about this?

Beyond the implications for the war, I was struck by the public emphasis on innovation as the key to success in leadership. What kind of innovation? This, from the Times piece:

“The idea is to develop a group of people who give you continuity, expertise and relationships. They know each other plus the people they’re going to work with,” said a senior military official who has worked closely on the plan. “As they build relationships among themselves, relationships with Afghan partners and relationships with Afghan units, their relative effectiveness is just going to go up.”

The Secretary and the President are signaling that innovation must be centered around new kinds of relationships, reflecting a need for a deeper understanding of the situation and rooted in trust.

This is not your grandfather's, or even your father's, notion of military leadership.

And, as an aside, the announcement is full of a brand of candor seldom seen in any organization's approach to changes of this magnitude. I can't help but wonder if we're seeing President Obama's influence on that count.