‘CREATIVITY HAS ALWAYS BEEN A SOLDIER’S TOOL.’
Rear Admiral Christian Bock has headed the German Armed Forces Innovation Centre since last February. In an interview with SLEEK, he explains why innovation requires trust, what Ukraine teaches us about the future of war – and why drill and disruption are not mutually exclusive.
CHRISTIAN BRACHT Military leadership is often equated with strict hierarchy. Which forms of leadership are indispensable today – and which are outdated?
CHRISTIAN BOCK Change management and team management are indispensable in today’s digitalised environment. Hierarchical thinking and leadership are principles designed for combat – for situations where discipline is the basis and quick, clear chains of command are essential for survival. However, when you consider the complexity of today’s tasks, you have to look for solutions within the team rather than issuing hierarchical commands. In a modern, digitalised and multidimensional Bundeswehr (German armed forces), the collaborative leadership approach is actually the key element. This does not exclude the former but it fundamentally complements it.
CB Leadership in the military means responsibility for human lives in extreme situations. How does this shape your personal leadership style?
CB Directly. We are designing a system for combat. That’s why the capacity for rapid decision-making must always be considered – not when designing this system, but when deploying it. The protection of our own people and the need to make decisions that affect life and death must be taken into account within digitally managed structures as well as in classic combat training. Both are always present at the same time, in every decision-making situation.
CB You are responsible for innovation in an organisation that values reliability above all else. How do you create spaces where new things can emerge?
CB By defining experimental spaces – sandboxes – explicitly from the outset. The path to reliability leads through experimentation. You take new technologies, let them interact, make mistakes, learn from them and improve the system. This is common practice in any techno- logical development. We are pushing this forward by bringing researchers, developers and innovators directly into contact with the troops – so that realities of deployment are taken into account from the outset. A single weapon system never works without logistics, without command and control, without the troops understand- ing how it interacts with other systems. All of this has to be practised and tested. And it must be said that this never just works perfectly from the start.
CB What does the war in Ukraine tell us about the future of combat – and about the importance of techno- logical innovation?
CB It shows the asymmetrical effect that small, highly specialised units with access to new technologies can have. There are very small units in Ukraine that use the latest technologies and innovations directly in combat – perhaps two to three per cent of the troops. And yet around 80 per cent of the so-called kill rate comes from precisely these units. This changes the whole picture. At the same time, the remaining 95 to 98 per cent, who ensure logistics, leadership and supplies, are just as indispensable. The system only works as a whole. But the lead decides.
‘In combat, you also fight with digital means. What used to be decided on the spot with one’s hands, eyes and mind is now enhanced by digital collaboration.’
CB What skills will Bundeswehr leaders need to have in the future – in view of AI, autonomous systems and accelerating innovation cycles?
CB First of all, a basic under- standing of technology – not at the developer level, but at the decision-maker level. Artificial intelligence is not self-sufficient; it is shaped by the programmer and thus influenced by humans. Understanding how systems interact with each other and with human decision-makers is essential knowledge that leaders at every level must have. Added to this is an understanding of flat hierarchies. And finally, the willingness to grow with technology rather than resist it. Because only those who grow together with technology develop genuine trust in it.
‘Around 80 per cent of the Ukrainian so called kill rate comes from two to three per cent of the troops – those units equipped with the latest technologies.’
CB Innovation has a lot to do with creativity – a term that is rarely associated with military leadership. Rightly so?
CB That’s a loaded question. Since when are military personnel not creative? Actually, we embody creativity. The only question is: does the system allow for creativity? From financial resources to institutional trust, the conditions must allow it. And so much has changed in recent years that there are virtually no limits. One of our core tasks at the Innovation Centre is precisely that: to give this creativity free rein, to give it space and to do so systematically. We don’t just take ideas on board, we assign them to the channels where they are most effective. Creativity has always been a means for soldiers to gain an the upper hand over their opponents.
CB If you had to redefine leadership for future generations, what role would creativity play?
CB An immensely important one. But this creativity should not only manifest itself in a military context, that is important to me. It should apply equally in every area. It is what sustains and upholds an entire society. And that is perhaps the crucial idea in this historic turning point: security and innovation, reliability and creativity, defence and social resilience – these are not opposites. They are two sides of the same coin.
‘The scientific community in Germany is now opening up to cooperation that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. This is also a consequence of the changing times.’
Rear Admiral CHRISTIAN BOCK has been head of the Bundeswehr Innovation Centre (IZBw) since February 2025. The interview was conducted by the SLEEK editorial team in Berlin.