Complexity: A Cognitive Barrier to Defense Systems Acquisition Management

Department of Defense acquisition policy used to treat the modification of existing systems to meet new or changing requirements as an aberration rather than the norm. Little attention was paid to management of iterative processes such as preplanned product improvement spiral development or evolutionary acquisition. The recent shift in policy toward evolutionary acquisition as the preferred approach to meeting operational requirements will require a paradigm shift regarding management of defense systems acquisition programs. The Advanced Program Management Course offered at the Defense Systems Management College must be modified to support that shift.
Pub. in Acquisition Review Quarterly, p61-78, Winter 2001.