Ep. 7: The Bold and Messy Roller-coaster Ride of Design Education for Military Officers

Tension

Our host Donna Dupont interviews an international military design panel - Dr. Florian Andresen, Dr. Robert Rosa and Anders Theis Bollmann to discuss design education, and why it's an important mindset to cultivate for military officers, strategists and future generals.

Florian is a Post-Doc at the Chair of Technology and Innovation Management at Helmut-Schmidt-University, and leads projects on Military Design Thinking and Communities of Practice in the German Armed Forces. Robert is currently serving in the Wars Studies University in Warsaw, he conducts classes with senior officers in the field of military strategy and design. Anders is working on a PhD at Copenhagen Business School (CBS) as part of “Rethinking Entrepreneurship”, his project investigates the relationship between entrepreneurialism, defense policy and military practice.

In this episode we discuss the roller-coaster ride of design to navigate the tension in thinking between traditional linear planning, and different ways to explore complex and rapidly changing environments. A practice that requires an open-mind, humility, empathy, a curiosity to explore the unknown, and the courage and creativity to pave a new path forward.

About This Episode's Guests:

Florian Andresen

Dr. Florian Andresen is currently a Post-Doc at the Chair of Technology and Innovation Management at Helmut-Schmidt-University (University of the German Federal Armed Forces in Hamburg). Dr. Hans Koller. In this role, he leads projects on Military Design Thinking and Communities of Practice in the German Armed Forces. Additionally, he serves as a lecturer at Helmut-Schmidt-University, Fresenius University of Applied Sciences, and the Bundeswehr Command and Staff College, where he teaches in the areas of Strategic Management, Design Thinking, and Complexity. Previously, he was a Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Public Sector Consulting. Moreover, he served as a career soldier (Captain) and is currently an active reserve officer at the Bundeswehr Command and Staff College (Major).

His focus areas include Dynamic Capabilities and Organizational Adaptability/Agility, Business Model Innovation and Business Ecosystems, Military Design Thinking and Artificial Intelligence, Institutional Logics and Institutional Complexity, and Communities of Practice.

You can find a link to Florian’s dissertation that deals with bottom-up capability development in the German Armed Forces (Strategic Management / Dynamic Capabilities) at this link. He also has a publication on different institutional logics and design in the German Navy (link to the German version), An English version can be provided upon request.

Robert Rosa

Dr. Robert Rosa is currently serving in the Wars Studies University in Warsaw. He holds a PhD in Social Sciences, discipline: security sciences. His dissertation concerned the design approach in military operational thought. His military service includes positions in: a radar unit during compulsory military service, and in engineering and airborne troops, as well as tactical and operational level command as a professional soldier. Deployment in Afghanistan in 2009. In 2018 Robert became senior Military Design Educator in cooperation with Joint Special Operations University in Tampa.

Robert conducts classes with senior officers in the field of military strategy and design, as well as participates in the implementation of projects in the field of strategy design, including military strategy. He tries to combine a multidisciplinary approach in his service and work.

He is currently working on an English monograph of his work.

Anders Theis Bollmann

Anders is working on a PhD at Copenhagen Business School (CBS) as part of the “Rethinking Entrepreneurship”. His project investigates the relationship between entrepreneurialism and defense policy and military practice. As part of this work Anders is investigating military and strategic design as institutional entrepreneurship and how mil/stratdesign education is used to shape an (entrepreneurial) professional identity amongst military and other defense professionals.

Prior to his PhD Anders has worked as a research assistant at Center for Military Studies at Copenhagen University and as a research consultant at the Royal Danish Defence College, both places his work focused on the intersection between military organization, practice and identity and emerging technologies. Furthermore, he had a short stint as a public-school teacher teaching German, History and Political Science to 8 and 9 graders. Anders holds a MA in Philosophy & Science Studies and History.

You can find a link to Anders’ publications here.

Show Notes

AOD is hosting an international conference on security design on September 18-20, 2024 at the Naval Academy, Lisbon, Portugal. If you’re a fan of the podcast and want to learn more, please visit https://aodnetwork.ca/securitybydesign/ for the full programme, and https://securitybydesign.eventbrite.ca/ to register.

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Credits
Host: Donna Dupont
Editor: Mikhial Gurarie
Graphic Designer: Habiba Elgendy
Producer: Thomas Changarathil