Learn to wear your uniform,…it tells the story you want told.
A defense innovator is someone who facilitates change from within the military system. This takes on a myriad number of forms, but the common thread is the facilitation of change through and within the military system. It’s not a mutiny of the willing against the tyranny of the complacent. It is an evolutionary process that takes work, coordination, and the will power of trained professionals to execute everyday.
There is a time, place, and logic to effectively bending or breaking rules. That is a bread and butter lesson all professional innovators learn quickly. All bills eventually come due, and accountability always catches up to you in the end, so choose your consequences wisely.
I chose to break a small rule to tell an important story. I created the IN0V8 patch you see on my uniform in the picture below. I made enough patches so all my military innovation professionals in USAFE-AFAFRICA Headquarters that worked for me could do the same. It is not an approved patch, we broke AFI 36-2903 by doing it, and I defended all of my people as their Chief whenever questioned by others on who authorized them to wear it. I chose to break that rule to tell a story I believe was worth being told. We were “professional military” innovation personnel and wore the uniform first, but added the flair of the unique patch to drive a conversation second. And boy did it work!
There are plenty of people running around in civilian clothes on base, so not wearing a uniform as a military innovator does nothing to tell your story to others. All of us, on the other hand with our unique patch, would get routinely asked by other military members on base what that patch meant. That gave us all the opportunity to tell the story of military innovation, and the opportunity every military member has to have their ideas supported by us, GOAL ACHIEVED!
What everyone needs most from a Professional Defense Innovator is someone who has deep knowledge of the system, understands where its opportunities exist, and how to utilize the functions of the system to capitalize on those opportunities. You work within the system to facilitate change.
There is a single question you should be asking yourself as a military innovation professional, since a core function of the job is outreach.
How do I best present myself to represent my skills and function to drive the outcomes I want?
