EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The 412th Test Wing’s Plans and Programs Directorate, in partnership with the Edwards Education Center, recently hosted a unified Defense Acquisition University Workshop. Twenty-three individuals across the 412th Test Wing, 96th Test Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, and the Air Force Test Center attended the two-day DAU experience Oct. 29-30.
The course, “WSM 028 Strategic Planning with Futures Thinking”, covers a six-step process that walks planners through framing the organizations issues, scanning the environment, and using that information to develop an alternative future scenario.
Over the course of three months leading up to the instruction, members of the Plans and Programs Directorate collaborated with DAU officials to identify common themes expressed by the Air Force Test Center and Air Force Materiel Command's strategic goals. This ensured the activity was placed on actionable outcomes within the 412th Test Wing’s strategic plan, rather than traditional instruction of fabricated examples and theory.
Participants covered a wide range of demographics, from senior leaders to individual contributors spread across both the active duty and civilian workforce. With a primary focus on the Futures Thinking model, additional methodologies such as SCRUM and Extraordinary Future were featured as tools that can be implemented when designing desired future states for organizations.
“Having participants from across the Air Force Test Center in the same room was fundamental in this workshops success” notes Joshua McDonald, chief, strategic planning for the 412th Test Wing. “This workshop offered research-backed, DAU-endorsed strategic planning models to drive key commonality across the Center.”
Edwards Air Force Base is currently experiencing its busiest time in history. The ability to rapidly adapt planning and execution to meet the global demand of test resources will become a required skillset for every individual serving the mission, regardless of role.
Workshops such as these are only a small part of the broader efforts taking place across the Air Force in an era of Global Power Competition.