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| Aug. 30, 2016
Cross-Functional Teams in Defense Reform: Help or Hindrance?
By Christopher J. Lamb
Strategic Forum 298
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Key Points
There is strong bipartisan support for
Section 941 of the Senate’s version of
the National Defense Authorization
Act for 2017, which requires the Pentagon
to use cross-functional teams
(CFTs). CFTs are a popular organizational
construct with a reputation for
delivering better and faster solutions
for complex and rapidly evolving
problems.
The Department of Defense reaction
to the bill has been strongly negative.
Senior officials argue that Section
941 would “undermine the authority
of the Secretary, add bureaucracy,
and confuse lines of responsibility.”
The Senate’s and Pentagon’s diametrically
opposed positions on the
value of CFTs can be partially reconciled
with a better understanding of
what CFTs are, how cross-functional
groups have performed to date in
the Pentagon, and their prerequisites
for success. This paper argues there
is strong evidence that CFTs could
provide impressive benefits if the
teams were conceived and employed
correctly.
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