Probing the "It Depends" Variables - 30 years for Defense Systems Management School

Program Manager, May, 2001 by Dr. Alan W. Beck

The "New Vision" PMC changes of the 1987 timeframe were accompanied by the introduction of an individual learning program to allow students to focus their learning on self-assessed individual learning needs. Where students had common needs, the faculty was encouraged to establish and offer electives. The process was intended to allow students to hone their inquiry skills, which would promote creative thinking and continuous learning after graduation -- skills essential in our fast changing world where "it depends" is often the answer.

As DSMC entered its third decade in the 1990s, the "it depends" side of individual strengths was expanded by introduction of the self-assessment aid of the PROFILOR 360-degree feedback instrument. With PROFILOR feedback, students were able to assess their own developmental needs and strengths, and plan their own work in areas of importance.

To help DSMC and the PMC students understand individual preference differences in dealing with complexity, the College used the theory developed by Harvard professor Dr. William G. Perry Jr. [13] The Perry Learning Environment Preference instrument, developed by Dr. William Moore and Dr. Carl Bryant, measures individual preference for dealing with single-right-answer facts ("red-flower, green-stem") or with complexity in context. [14] The Perry instrument results showed that the PMC learners had a fairly high group average for comfort/preference in dealing with complexity, but that there was a definite group, at the lower score side of the curve, who preferred single right answers. DSMC faculty and students see this in class as the (often vocal) minority who say, "Tell me just what is on the test," as opposed to the high-Perry-scorers who want to discuss the context, variables, and all aspects of "it depends."

The cumulative graph of PMC students' Perry scores (Figure 3 below) reflects the high average comfort level for dealing with complexity and less rigid procedures. I believe this implies that most of the acquisition workforce was ready for accelerating change and the push for acquisition reform, which was to characterize the 1990s.

Evolution of "It Depends" in DSMC's Third Decade

As the 20-week PMC ended its first 20 years, the larger system outside DSMC was calling for more specific identification of competencies and a more structured approach to educating the acquisition workforce. The Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act created the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) and specified that the DSMC would be a key part of DAU. The new organization and the Services moved to closer management of the overall educational program. More specific competency lists were generated and re-generated, with course redesign efforts to meet the new competencies.

In July 1995, the redesign effort for the PMC with the new advanced competencies led to its designation as the Advanced Program Management Course (APMC). The law had required the completion of the 20-week Program Management Course for certain senior management positions. The 20-week PMC was eliminated, and the new advanced course -- APMC -- was limited to 14 weeks. A new four-week Executive Program Management Course was established as an assignment-specific "enroute" course for newly designated major Program Managers; Deputy Program Managers and Program Executive Officers (PEO); and Deputy PEOs. The new 14-week course plus the four-week course were declared sufficient to meet the law requiring the 20-week PMC.