Naval Postgraduate School

2016-12-12, Arquilla, John, Strawser, Bradley, Denning, Peter J., Lyons, Todd, Naval Postgraduate School, Big Idea Exchange (BIX)

The latest NPS Big Ideas Exchange showcases five NPS speakers that bring forward new and potentially game-changing ideas to address grand challenges in American national security. Presentations focus on innovation in the military, the ethics of unmanned systems, and advancements in explosives through metallurgy.

2016-12, Arquilla, John, Naval Postgraduate School, Big Idea Exchange (BIX)

This overview talk describes the game-changing nature of big ideas, and their sometimes surprising origins.  For example, a century ago the challenge of flight was mastered by bike mechanics, outpacing the efforts of the leading scientists and engineers of the day. A decade later, the assembly-line concept was advanced, revolutionizing manufacturing.  It was inspired by a machinist’s visit to a friend at a meat-processing plant, where he saw butchers lopping off portions of the carcasses that came by on a conveyor belt. The assembly line simply reversed the process, adding parts as the skeletal auto frame moved along the line. In military and security affairs, a particular theme in big ideas has to do with small things, from the introduction of cube satellites to the creation of much smaller Army and Marine combat units that will be far nimbler and more networked than current formations. Above all, the point is made that ideas “matter.” And big ideas matter even more.