Through a Glass, Darkly

Innovation and transformation are the words of the moment in the defense community. Faced with an uncertain threat, limited budgets and at least the potential for major technological changes in the way some military missions are conduction, many outside the military have demanded major, even revolutionary change, and the military Services are each moving to frame their plans in suitable terms. The Air Force, both recognizing the potential for the use of space as an operating environment and facing increasing external pressure to show that it is a "space service" has proposed transforming itself into an "aerospace force". But all this talk hides the fact that innovation is a complex process, that there are important differences between "innovation," "transformation," and "revolutions," and that using the words interchangeably is more likely to cause confusion than make incremental improvements become radical.