What keeps people from creating workable solutions to tough problems is a failure to see and understand the actual problem. Big organizations spend years investing in and creating a constant generation of new ideas, people, technologies and operating concepts but fail to make progress solving critical challenges. That’s because there’s a tendency to think, “This problem exists because there is not an existing technology to fix it, therefore we must develop new technology.”

But in reality, innovation is a sociological problem, not a technology challenge. We have all the tech in the world, but what we don’t have, sometimes, is the ability to say, “Your system is getting in the way.” In this fireside chat, Pete Newell, CEO of the innovation company BMNT, will discuss how to address the “people” aspects of innovation, including

• how to work within established systems to create change instead of taking the risk of breaking them down when they are aren’t working; and
• how to build parallel, connected, and complimentary activities for innovation and execution so we are ready to win the next fight

Bio:

Peter is the CEO of BMNT, an innovation consultancy and early-stage technology incubator that helps solve some of the hardest real-world problems in national security, state and local governments and beyond. Prior to joining BMNT, Peter served as the Director of the US Army’s Rapid Equipping Force (REF). Reporting directly to the senior leadership of the Army, he was charged with rapidly finding, integrating, and employing solutions to emerging problems faced by Soldiers on the battlefield. Peter is a founder and co-author, with Lean Startup founder Steve Blank, of Hacking for Defense (H4D)®, an academic program taught at 22+ universities