The Need for Creativity and Innovation. By all projections, the future operational environment (OE) will be marked by increased uncertainty and ambiguity. To a large degree, the increased level of uncertainty regarding the conditions of the future OE will render it impossible for the Army's training and education institutions to predict the tasks and specific conditions that Army leaders will need to prepare for. Similarly, the increased uncertainty and rate of change of the future OE will make it extremely unlikely that existing Army doctrine will provide solutions that closely match the problems that Army leaders will face. Therefore, to succeed in such uncertain environments, Army leaders will need to be highly innovative. Army leaders will need the ability to quickly grasp the essence of new and unfamiliar problems, and, in response to these problems, to develop and implement original and appropriate solutions. Furthermore, leaders will need high levels of creativity in order to develop and implement new and unanticipated tactics and methods that achieve the element of surprise over thinking and resourceful adversaries. Recognizing this need, the Army has designated the development of agile, adaptive, and innovative leaders to be one of the Army Warfighting Challenges (AWFC) that serve to focus the Army's capability development efforts. This paper seeks to contribute to the development of solutions to this AWFC by initiating professional discourse on the topic of creativity. It synthesizes the relevant professional and academic literature, provides models of the creative process, creative people, and the creative organizational climate before ultimately providing recommendations for a way ahead.

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