A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast MANEUVER WARFARE: INNOVATION AND THE ELASTIC MINDSET
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Sep 3, 2025 Kurt McDowell, a colonel in the U.S. Army and Director of the Washington Field Office for U.S. Southern Command, joins the conversation to explore innovative military strategies. He and co-guest Michael Smith advocate for an 'elastic mindset' essential for adapting to future warfare by 2040. They discuss how effectual logic, an entrepreneurial approach, can transform military planning. The duo also emphasizes the need for a cultural shift within the Army that embraces technology's role in decision-making and the lessons learned from recent conflicts like Ukraine.
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Elastic Mindset Is Foundational
- The elastic mindset is foundational for U.S. military innovation in 2040.
- It prioritizes cognitive approach over just technology or resources.
Start With Means Not Fixed Ends
- Effectual logic starts with current means rather than a fixed end state.
- It asks "What do you have? Who are you?" to shape achievable ends.
Plan By Means, Not Pacing Threats
- Avoid high-certainty, threat-specific planning that locks modernization to one scenario.
- Instead, adopt a means-based approach that begins with the "bird in hand" capabilities.
