Speaker brings innovation to USTRANSCOM

“Innovation may be in your best interest,” explained Dr. Jackson Nickerson, Frahm Family Professor of Organization and Strategy at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. “With increasing fiscal austerity over the next decade, and the nation shifting from one at war to one at peace, innovation is becoming increasingly more important.”

Nickerson shared his thoughts about innovation today in the U.S. Transportation Command’s Seay Auditorium as part of the USTRANSCOM “Cultural Virtue Speaker Series.” 

After speaking of the importance of innovation and defining it in the context of a military environment, Nickerson stressed three main take-aways that will help the Command foster a culture that enables true innovation:

1) Innovation requires four distinct processes: Creativity, Novelty, Utility and Commercialization
2) Comprehensively formulate the problem with all stakeholders before trying to solve the problem
3) “Sell” innovation in a three-step process: Engage stakeholders in comprehensively formulating the problem, collaborate to identify the value created if a solution can be found, and find a way to demonstrate your solution

Army Maj. Gen. Greg Couch, chief of staff, USTRANSCOM, echoed the main points in Nickerson’s presentation and encouraged the staff to take what they learned and apply it to the work the command engages in daily.

“General Fraser and the rest of the leadership team recognize that innovation is key to the future success of our command, particularly in light of the future operating environment,” he said. “It is your responsibility to take the time to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to formulate the problems that exist and come up with sensible solutions.”

--Together, we deliver.--