Military Review English Edition January-February 2015 | Page 42

accepting risk are not gambling. Gambling, in
contrast to prudent risk taking, is staking the
success of an entire action on a single event
without considering the hazard to the force
should the event not unfold as envisioned.
Therefore, commanders avoid taking gambles. Commanders carefully determine risks,
analyze and minimize as many hazards as
possible, and then take prudent risks to exploit
opportunities.23
Additionally, practicing issuing mission orders that
are outcome based rather than directive for common
tasks and training allows the staff to fail in a safe environment. This approach lends itself to improved training
and professional development. It allows commanders to
leverage the knowledge of their staff and the relatively
benign training environment to accept risk and create
learning advantages.

Conclusion
U.S. Naval War College professor Milan Vego
notes in an article on military creativity in Joint Force
Quarterly that creative and critical thought is hindered
by the authoritarian tendencies of higher commanders,
bureaucratic requirements of the military organization that forces fixed routines and outcomes, conformity that is compounded by the very structure of
the military, parochialism that leads to resistance to
cooperation, dogmatic views on doctrine, and anti-intellectualism.24 These hindrances can be difficult to
overcome, especially in an Army that is both shrinking
and resetting its mission. However, it can also be argued
that now is the perfect time for the establishment of a
tradition of creative though [