#18--Kendrick Kuo

In this episode, we discuss the following topics. *What drew Kendrick to study military innovation *How he defines military innovation *What conventional wisdom says about military innovation *How innovation differs from adaption *Some recent historical examples of military innovation *Whether military innovation fails more often than it succeeds *Popular instances of military innovation in the West *Kendrick’s essay “Dangerous Changes: When Military Innovation Harms Combat Effectiveness” *What drives innovation in military organizations *Warped innovation *Incremental vs. radical innovation *What drew Kendrick to studying British armored warfare innovation during the Interwar Period and the British Army’s experiences in North Africa as a case of military innovation *The US Army’s Pentomic Divisions *Guarding or hedging against dangerous innovations *The claim that the character of war is changing rapidly *Force Design 2030 *Communication strategies in support of military innovation efforts *The innovator's dilemma as it applies to the military innovator *Innovation and adaptation in Ukraine *Recommended books on military innovation and military effectiveness *Defining and measuring military effectiveness *The prospect of the US forces fighting another counterinsurgency war or low-intensity conflict *Kendrick’s upcoming articles Links “Dangerous Changes: When Military Innovation Harms Combat Effectiveness,” by Kendrick Kuo, International Security https://direct.mit.edu/isec/article/47/2/48/113546/Dangerous-Changes-When-Military-Innovation-Harms “The Future of Military Innovation Studies” by Adam Grissom, Journal of Strategic Studies (paywall) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01402390600901067?journalCode=fjss20 “What is a Military Innovation and Why It Matters” by Michael Horowitz and Shira Pindyck, Journal of Strategic Studies (paywall) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01402390.2022.2038572 “Aircraft Carriers Versus Battleships in War and Myth” with James R. FitzSimonds, YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD43yEnbfL4 “Future Visions and Planned Obsolescence: Implementing 30-Year Horizons in Defense Planning” by Travis Reese and Dylan Phillips-Levine, CIMSEC https://cimsec.org/future-visions-and-planned-obsolescence-implementing-30-year-horizons-in-defense-planning/ Steve Rosen, Winning the Next War: Innovation and the Modern Military https://a.co/d/88ckH5T Military Innovation in the Interwar Period (revised edition) edited by Williamson Murray and Allan R. Millett https://a.co/d/1gUNGcc The Sources of Military Doctrine: France, Britain, and Germany Between the World Wars by Barry Posen https://a.co/d/dEJSypm Technological Change and the Future of Warfare by Michael O’Hanlon https://a.co/d/5NBsZl6 The Innovation Delusion: How Our Obsession with the New Has Disrupted the Work That Matters Most by Lee Vinsel and Andrew Russell https://a.co/d/gFFzzHH The Shock Of The Old: Technology and Global History since 1900 by David Edgerton https://a.co/d/6oaUtZk “Superiority,” a short story by Arthur C. Clarke https://www.baen.com/Chapters/1439133476/1439133476___5.htm