Page 8 - AeM_August_2017

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

Can the Art of War teach us how to

pioneer an innovation industry?

It is an inconvenient truth that from the dawn of out on the movie’s accuracy, the fact is that it is a won-
mankind, war has been a sad feature of the human derful example of innovation and disruptive technology
condition. Human conflict comes at enormous cost being used to give an advantage strategically. The Brit-
with its impacts on people and society. ish are credited with developing the first electronic com-
Paradoxically, the need to defend yourself has also puter as a means of breaking the code. It was a pivotal
meant that defence has also been a key driver of many moment in history, one that contributed in no small way
economies and the need for a winning edge on the bat- to the outcome of World War II.
tlefield has made the military a source of great innova-
tion. An uncertain geopolitical environment and complex During the Gulf War, coalition forces took emerging
future means that the need for national defence will re- advances in electronics to improve targeting systems to
main. And militaries globally perform valuable roles in produce the precision weapons that proved so devas-
aid relief, humanitarian aid, disaster recovery and peace- tating against Iraqi forces, completely disrupting tradi-
keeping. tional ways conflicts had previously been fought. For
generations, conflicts have not only provided the mise
The question is not what the military is or for, but could en scène for displays of the application of disruptive
defence become an incubator for emerging disruptive technologies, but have been the driving force behind
technologies? Nobody wants their business to be dis- their development in the bid to reinforce military capa-
rupted but the military works in the ultimate disrupted bilities.
marketplace. Could new partnerships and linkages be-
tween the business world and national defence forces Business has long drawn lessons on leadership and
allow pre-emptive strikes to be made to leverage and business tactics from the battlefield. Take Chinese mili-
maximise the benefits of disruptive technology? tary general Sun Tzu’s Art of War for example ‒ written
more than two thousand years ago, the book remains
Defence has always been a testing ground for new tech- the Holy Grail of leadership inspiration for industry lead-
nologies to be prototyped and trialled, but could the sec- ers. Its tenets on thinking about the problem are early
tor also work with businesses to do the same with examples of design thinking.
emerging disruptive technologies before being launched But what about the invaluable lessons on innovation
into the mainstream consumer world? that could be gleaned from war?
In the 2014 movie, The Imitation Game, set in World
War II, a group of British code-breakers race against Defence has always forged strong partnerships with
time to crack the Enigma codes, a machine used by the industry to identify and be an early adopter of new tech-
Nazis to send encrypted messages. While the jury is still nology. But what if new types of partnerships were to
8 August 2017 - Search Engine Marketing & Optimization