Cultivating a Culture of Innovation

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James and USAF Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Larry Spencer called on all airmen to continue coming up with creative ways to save the Air Force money. In the memo to airmen, released last week, the leaders thanked airmen for their innovative ideas during last year’s “Make Every Dollar Count” campaign, which led to “hundreds of millions of dollars” in savings. “Now is the time to leverage the success of last year’s campaign and continue to cultivate a culture of innovation, efficiency, and savings,” wrote James and Spencer. They added, “Our goal is to take as many of our efficiencies and savings initiatives as possible and multiply them across the entire spectrum of operations. From large-scale initiatives, such as implementing cutting-edge energy practices or acquisition process improvements, to base-level actions, such as video teleconferencing and contract review. Everything counts.”