Enough with the "Innovation" Titles
Lightbulb illustration generated using OpenAI's ChatGPT and DALL·E.
We am sick and tired of the word "innovation." It’s everywhere—slapped onto business cards, LinkedIn profiles, and email signatures by people who wouldn’t know innovation if it hit them over the head with a patent.
In the U.S. alone, 976 professionals on LinkedIn working in the defense and military sectors list "Innovation" in their titles.
That’s nearly a thousand people branding themselves as the heralds of progress. And yet, here we are—with critical gaps in warfighter capabilities, procurement processes stuck in the Stone Age, and a cottage industry of consultants thriving on this dysfunction.
Redefining "Innovation"
Here’s the problem: "innovation" has become a hollow buzzword, detached from action or results. It’s a title people slap onto their resumes after attending a weekend seminar at Johns Hopkins to earn a “Certificate in Design Thinking for Innovation” or flipping through a trendy business bestseller—rarely a reflection of meaningful achievements.
Let’s put it into perspective: true innovation involves building something new, solving hard problems, and delivering results. If you’re calling yourself an innovator but haven’t:
Filed a patent that made it into a real product,
Raised capital and launched a successful company,
Invented something that’s been fielded to complete a mission, or
Contributed to groundbreaking work at a national laboratory,
Then let’s be honest—you’re just playing dress-up.
Innovation isn’t about talking—it’s about doing. Yet, in defense circles, it’s the talkers who thrive. Put your sticky notes in your pocket and shove your design-thinking seminars where they belong. These so-called "innovators" convene panels, write white papers, and attend conferences, all while failing to close the gap between those who need solutions and those who can deliver them.
Take a Look in the Mirror, DoD
The real issue is that most people in the DoD don’t know how to get something on contract. There’s a cavernous disconnect between:
Warfighters who need solutions,
Decision-makers who want those solutions, and
Contracting officers who are supposed to make it happen.
The latter group is often more focused on minimizing risk and paperwork than closing deals. Why? Because there’s no upside to taking risks—only potential penalties for missteps.
Take the procurement cycle for major defense programs: the average duration is 7 years, according to the GAO. In contrast, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products can be deployed in months if the right processes are followed. Yet many in the DoD wrongly believe that everything must be a program of record, have an ATO, or be FedRAMP certified. This misinformation perpetuates inefficiency and fuels the consultants who profit from navigating this broken system.
Real Innovation Isn’t a Buzzword
Here’s what true innovation looks like:
You take external money. Every day you work, you burn through it—not just on your salary, but on your employees’ paychecks. These are people with families and mortgages depending on you to deliver. Unlike a billion-dollar prime contractor or a federal government agency with an endless supply of printed currency, you don’t have the luxury of failure.
You build something undeniable. Your product has to be so good, so effective, that it convinces strangers to part with their hard-earned cash—not because they like you, not because they’re obligated to, but because it works. Every decision you make is a calculated risk, driven by necessity and the unshakable belief that what you’re building is worth it.
You face a mission-critical challenge. The tools at your disposal aren’t enough—there’s a glaring capability gap that jeopardizes everything. So, you step up and invent a solution. Not a theoretical one. A real, tangible tool that solves the problem.
You build it, test it, and deploy it in the field—not because someone told you to, but because you and your teammates need it to succeed. There’s no room for bureaucracy or delay; lives are on the line. What you create isn’t just innovative—it’s essential.
This is how most real innovations happen—not through panels or "collaborative workshops," but by people rolling up their sleeves and solving problems when it counts.
The Path Forward
The DoD doesn’t need more consultants, innovation titles, or panels. It needs accountability and cultural change. Here’s how:
Empower Contracting Officers: Give them the tools and incentives to take calculated risks.
Simplify the Process: Educate decision-makers about COTS solutions and eliminate unnecessary hurdles.
Set Clear Goals: Create transparent, straightforward pathways for getting solutions into the hands of warfighters.
Stop Talking. Start Building.
Until these changes happen, we’ll remain stuck in a loop—throwing money at middlemen, creating bottlenecks, and mistaking titles for results.
It’s time to burn the buzzwords and build something real. Innovation isn’t a title. It’s a result.
