F-35 production line

Among the reasons for America’s military preeminence is the quality and effectiveness of its weapons. During World War II the key to allied victory was the country’s remarkable ability to bend metal and build huge quantities of tanks, Jeeps, trucks, airplanes and ships. Today, many senior defense officials and industry experts say weapons are software first and metal second. That makes software development incredibly important, and, because software gets developed much faster than hardware, there’s great pressure to build faster. Our authors, both experts in software and technology, present their formula for meeting the conflicting demands of code and chips and hardware development. Read on! The Editor.

America’s global preeminence will be tested this decade as never before, because, for the first time in a half century, our innovation advantage is at risk. “U.S. superiority in key areas of innovation is decreasing or has disappeared,” the Senate Armed Services Committee wrote in its policy questions for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at his nomination hearing.

For the longest time our innovation and dominance has been rooted in matching the best military forces with the delivery of technically advanced, complex manufactured systems like satellites, fighter jets, and aircraft carriers.

With the shift towards cyberspace operations and field employment of Artificial Intelligence (AI), America’s adversaries are opportunistic risk-takers relatively unconstrained by international law. Their barriers of entry regarding cost, complexity, and technology are much reduced. Adversaries can work with the same agile methods, frameworks, and software libraries that we do! This just might give them an edge over us, so how do we stay ahead?

We go big. Even within the cyber, AI and software domains we need to continue to reach farther and have greater levels of integration than our adversaries. Integrated collection, analysis, decision support and effects is harder for adversaries to replicate and in the field it keeps us more focused, faster, and harder hitting than anyone else. This level of integration introduces complexity to the point where agile software development methods, and the “five really smart engineers” approach just isn’t enough.  Silicon Valley and startups across the country have been fueling their software and systems innovation by embracing agile software development methods and matching them with the wider aperture and rigor of product management. It isn’t just an app; these companies are creating complex products.

DoD has focused on agile as a way of running projects — setting up teams with some goals and funding. Ramping up resources, appointing a scrum-master and running sprints. Then winding everything down again once the backlog is effectively done or funding runs out. To truly harness the transformative power of agile, DoD’s methods must inform strategic thinking and long-term planning, as well as short-term project cycles. Teams need to start thinking of agile as a way to do product management.

Combining agile software development with product management is the secret weapon that can help the DoD maintain America’s innovation advantage — and protect its global preeminence.

Like it or not, robust cyber weapon systems and aircraft carriers are complex weapons and both need to move at the speed of software. Done correctly, Agile Product Management achieves the speed and responsiveness to evolving needs provided by agile software development, while also helping to handle the complexities associated with suppliers/providers, large and complex integrations, and a wide ecosystem of stakeholders typically seen in mission critical defense and intelligence systems.

Agile Product Management can truly transform the way an organization performs — with practical results that matter more in a huge organization like the Defense Department than in a tiny startup.

The unrelenting pace and the flat organizational structure that agile requires reveals where the handoffs and interdependencies are in the value chain – exposing bottlenecks and blockages which otherwise might not have been apparent. It also helps reveal and render manageable risks in any technology development.

There are five principles DoD leaders can adopt to ensure the success of Agile Product Management.

  • EMBRACE CONCERNS Agile reveals risks and problems faster than other approaches, like waterfall, so it’s important to provide teams the safety and space to address problems, as well as view them as opportunities to improve.
  • CONTINUOUSLY EVALUATE PRODUCT PROGRESS Knowledge is not linear in the software world, It’s not a matter of understanding how to do something, and then doing it. It’s a continuous learning journey where, at any given moment, you are putting your current best knowledge into the product.  One can be successful in executing sprints and delivering working software, but in the end the product must also meet the wider vision and goals.
  • SET DECISION MAKING AND AUTHORITY AT RIGHT LEVEL  Push decision making down to the level of greatest expertise. Empower your practitioners and listen to them.  Knowledge workers need ownership of their projects — give it to them.  Encourage feedback on the overall product with your wider community.
  • STAY AGILE WHILE KEEPING EYE ON THE PRIZE Products are concurrently in development and operations. Products have components sourced from a range of internal and external organizations. Successful product management includes integrating and prioritizing efforts across multiple streams of activity. Without this there will be lags within the value stream or product features that miss the mark from an end user perspective.
  • LEAD Agile is not easy; there will be friction. It requires leadership — pushing through, creating an environment where your vision is clear so people understand their collective purpose and have permission to use their skills and abilities to innovate and solve problems.

The stakes could not be higher. Successfully embracing Agile Product Management is the key to maintaining our technological edge — and the strategic preeminence it powers.

Ian Fogarty is a managing director at Accenture Federal Services for technology and operations. George Franz, a retired major general who was former director of operations for U.S. Cyber Command, is a managing director at Accenture Federal Services for cybersecurity and defense.