Tom Galvin
As was the case following the end of the Cold War, the Army is pursuing transformation to reorient its capabilities in preparation for the future multi-domain battlefield.
Like culture change, transformational change is hard. Both involve an important human dimension. Typically, culture change involves correcting attitudes and behaviors to reinforce existing norms, values, warfighting ethos, and attitudes. But transformation involves something else, a deliberate breakage from the past to instill a new normal–one that promises greater capability and success in the battlefield.
In 2025, transformation is a must. As was the case following the end of the Cold War, the Army is pursuing transformation to reorient its capabilities in preparation for the future multi-domain battlefield. Chief of Staff of the Army General Randy George describes this as “transformation in contact,” because the Army must simultaneously transform while still engaged in current operations. Army Futures Command Commanding General Jim Rainey describes today’s transformation in contact as but one phase as the Army must also simultaneously exercise “deliberate transformation” to ensure longer-term development of leap-ahead weapons systems remain feasible and affordable.
However, what to break in order to make such transformations happen? And what does this breakage do to the psyche of the soldiers in the units whose capabilities are to be cast aside? It is these questions I recently confronted in contributing to transformational efforts in two different army commands. Each resulted in a general challenge, or peril, that transformational efforts face that might not always be salient to the leaders pushing for change. I will include a third peril at the end.
My experiences came in the form of two recent multi-day workshops, each related to large organizations undergoing transformational change at their level simultaneously with the on-going army transformation. In both cases, the efforts to deliberately break from the past produced some deep concerns and anxiety over what the transformation would accomplish. There was no disagreement that the transformations were necessary, and most welcomed it. But the process of crossing the line of departure was very uncomfortable. Below I will share themes relating to this experience that I believe are sufficiently common so as to warrant broader attention. For obvious reasons, I must obscure the details of these experiences.
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