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Leaders of the Indian Wells Valley and surrounding communities gathered last week to hear reports on
factors that have shaped and will continue to shape the local economy, as well as hear success stories from
business and industry leaders who discussed the importance of innovation for sustaining a healthy and
competent private sector.
“When we talk about innovation, it’s not just technology we’re talking about,” said master of ceremonies
Mick Gleason. “We’re talking about health care, marketing, sales.”
Gleason, director of the China Lake Alliance, said that his group advocates support for the Navy’s mission
at China Lake while encouraging a strong private sector in the surrounding area.
“If we don’t innovate, we die. We perish. It’s a fact of life. It’s not a matter of if, but when,” said Robert
Brands, innovation coach and president-founder of Brands & Co., who gave the first featured presentation of
the conference.
factors that have shaped and will continue to shape the local economy, as well as hear success stories from
business and industry leaders who discussed the importance of innovation for sustaining a healthy and
competent private sector.
“When we talk about innovation, it’s not just technology we’re talking about,” said master of ceremonies
Mick Gleason. “We’re talking about health care, marketing, sales.”
Gleason, director of the China Lake Alliance, said that his group advocates support for the Navy’s mission
at China Lake while encouraging a strong private sector in the surrounding area.
“If we don’t innovate, we die. We perish. It’s a fact of life. It’s not a matter of if, but when,” said Robert
Brands, innovation coach and president-founder of Brands & Co., who gave the first featured presentation of
the conference.
The world of business is changing, he said. Products have shorter lifecycles, there is more competition in
the marketplace, customers needs and wants are changing, emerging technologies are changing the game.
But innovation is the “life blood of any company,” and the key to growing opportunities and attracting the best
employees.
He outlined his 10 “Robert’s Rules of Innovation,” each of which play an integral role in the success of a
company — no matter the size.
Those rules start with inspiration, a responsibility that falls to the leader of the organization. “You need to
be the champion. You can’t delegate,” he said.
Among his other rules were creating value, keeping ideas flowing, being willing to take risks, holding
everyone accountable to a standard, measuring results and training staff.
Even in an age of burgeoning products and services, humanity has not run out of ideas, he said. He
pointed to the 1899 statement by Charles Duell, head of the U.S. Patent Office, that “Everything that can be
invented has already been invented.”
(Additional details of Brands’ philosophy are available at www.innovationcoach.com.)
Dick Rutan, who secured a place for himself in aviation history by being the first pilot to fly around the world
without refueling, spoke of his experiences in pushing the envelope of capabilities in human flight in the final
presentation of the event.
Rutan and his brother Burt, the engineering genius behind the Voyager, which flew around the world, and
SpaceShipOne, the first commercial space craft, became driving forces in the world of aviation by their
willingness to try, he said — even if it meant facing failures along the way.
“You learn a lot more from failure than you do from success,” said Rutan. “But you have to have the guts to
try.”
The Rutans faced their share of challenges in planning, development and finally testing of the Voyager —
lack of funding, equipment failures and more — but were able to push through to meet the goals they set out
with. He stressed that beyond simply accomplishing their flight goal, they wanted to be able to do it first, and
to claim credit for it.
In achieving that goal, Rutan had to float above the earth, crammed inside a metal tube for 10 days with co-
pilot Jeana Yeager, without the benefit of modern conveniences.
He encouraged his listeners to use barriers as targets for “opportunities for greatness.” Or, as Arthur C.
Clarke said it, “The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.”
We are now living in an age where this is more possible than ever, he said, using another Clarke quote to
underscore his point. “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
“Where we were once using sliderules, we now have the most incredible technology to accomplish
things,” he said.
Rutan described himself as a proud warrior, with his service to his country as a pilot in the Air Force chief
among the achievements he takes pride in. He praised China Lake for its commitment to weapons
development technology and ensuring that when American soldiers go into combat, the odds are tipped in
their favor.
Other presenters included City Manager Kurt Wilson, who introduced his screening of the city’s “state of
the city” video by remarking that “Not only is this the place to invest, but this is also the time to invest.”
Jessica Armstrong discussed the importance of social media in the current climate. The digital age has
“diminished the barriers and gatekeepers of information,” and shifted more control from brands to the
consumer, she said.
Though there are potential liabilities to that shift, she encouraged businesses to use the public forms to
their advantage. For example, if a customer turns to social media to share a negative experience, “If that
negative feedback is handled well, patrons will look at that and feel they were treated fairly.”
And the bottom line is, “Social media is big, evolving and here to stay. You can’t ignore it.”
Admiral Mat Winter, comanding officer of the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, said that the core of
innovation lies in the people. He encouraged leaders to constantly evaluate their positions and define
objectives — and to do son in an environment that inspires.
He also encouraged the community to take ownership of the contributions China Lake makes to the nation.
“The success of China Lake — those are your successes.”
“If we were going to talk about all the technology going on at the base, we’d need a week,” said NAWC
Executive Director Scott O’Neil.
The workforce is healthy, he said. Employment has climbed by some 800 jobs since 2007, putting the total
just over 3,500. That workforce earns some $358 million a year, which is then reinvested in the community.
Over the next few years China Lake will be focused on retaining that workforce, as well as transferring
knowledge from the portion of the workforce nearing retiring age — the largest demographic — into
Generation Y. “And I think we’re succeeding.”
He said that ties between China Lake and the community are strong enough to elicit a response from New
Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who visited last year, “That this community should be a model of how bases and
cities partner.”
China Lake has a healthy business base as well, generating some $1.92 billion in work last year, said O’
Neil.
While China Lakers continue to create new and refine old technologies, one goal O’Neil highlighted is
becoming more savvy about protecting the intellectual property of those advancements.
Goals dictated by the secretary of the Navy include working to reduce the carbon footprint of the base by 50
percent by 2020. In that vein, the base is working with the China Lake Alliance to explore possible strategies
in researching and developing alternate energy solutions.
(O’Neil elaborated on many of these ideas in a separate interview with the News Review. The details will be
reported in next week’s edition.)
the marketplace, customers needs and wants are changing, emerging technologies are changing the game.
But innovation is the “life blood of any company,” and the key to growing opportunities and attracting the best
employees.
He outlined his 10 “Robert’s Rules of Innovation,” each of which play an integral role in the success of a
company — no matter the size.
Those rules start with inspiration, a responsibility that falls to the leader of the organization. “You need to
be the champion. You can’t delegate,” he said.
Among his other rules were creating value, keeping ideas flowing, being willing to take risks, holding
everyone accountable to a standard, measuring results and training staff.
Even in an age of burgeoning products and services, humanity has not run out of ideas, he said. He
pointed to the 1899 statement by Charles Duell, head of the U.S. Patent Office, that “Everything that can be
invented has already been invented.”
(Additional details of Brands’ philosophy are available at www.innovationcoach.com.)
Dick Rutan, who secured a place for himself in aviation history by being the first pilot to fly around the world
without refueling, spoke of his experiences in pushing the envelope of capabilities in human flight in the final
presentation of the event.
Rutan and his brother Burt, the engineering genius behind the Voyager, which flew around the world, and
SpaceShipOne, the first commercial space craft, became driving forces in the world of aviation by their
willingness to try, he said — even if it meant facing failures along the way.
“You learn a lot more from failure than you do from success,” said Rutan. “But you have to have the guts to
try.”
The Rutans faced their share of challenges in planning, development and finally testing of the Voyager —
lack of funding, equipment failures and more — but were able to push through to meet the goals they set out
with. He stressed that beyond simply accomplishing their flight goal, they wanted to be able to do it first, and
to claim credit for it.
In achieving that goal, Rutan had to float above the earth, crammed inside a metal tube for 10 days with co-
pilot Jeana Yeager, without the benefit of modern conveniences.
He encouraged his listeners to use barriers as targets for “opportunities for greatness.” Or, as Arthur C.
Clarke said it, “The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.”
We are now living in an age where this is more possible than ever, he said, using another Clarke quote to
underscore his point. “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
“Where we were once using sliderules, we now have the most incredible technology to accomplish
things,” he said.
Rutan described himself as a proud warrior, with his service to his country as a pilot in the Air Force chief
among the achievements he takes pride in. He praised China Lake for its commitment to weapons
development technology and ensuring that when American soldiers go into combat, the odds are tipped in
their favor.
Other presenters included City Manager Kurt Wilson, who introduced his screening of the city’s “state of
the city” video by remarking that “Not only is this the place to invest, but this is also the time to invest.”
Jessica Armstrong discussed the importance of social media in the current climate. The digital age has
“diminished the barriers and gatekeepers of information,” and shifted more control from brands to the
consumer, she said.
Though there are potential liabilities to that shift, she encouraged businesses to use the public forms to
their advantage. For example, if a customer turns to social media to share a negative experience, “If that
negative feedback is handled well, patrons will look at that and feel they were treated fairly.”
And the bottom line is, “Social media is big, evolving and here to stay. You can’t ignore it.”
Admiral Mat Winter, comanding officer of the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, said that the core of
innovation lies in the people. He encouraged leaders to constantly evaluate their positions and define
objectives — and to do son in an environment that inspires.
He also encouraged the community to take ownership of the contributions China Lake makes to the nation.
“The success of China Lake — those are your successes.”
“If we were going to talk about all the technology going on at the base, we’d need a week,” said NAWC
Executive Director Scott O’Neil.
The workforce is healthy, he said. Employment has climbed by some 800 jobs since 2007, putting the total
just over 3,500. That workforce earns some $358 million a year, which is then reinvested in the community.
Over the next few years China Lake will be focused on retaining that workforce, as well as transferring
knowledge from the portion of the workforce nearing retiring age — the largest demographic — into
Generation Y. “And I think we’re succeeding.”
He said that ties between China Lake and the community are strong enough to elicit a response from New
Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who visited last year, “That this community should be a model of how bases and
cities partner.”
China Lake has a healthy business base as well, generating some $1.92 billion in work last year, said O’
Neil.
While China Lakers continue to create new and refine old technologies, one goal O’Neil highlighted is
becoming more savvy about protecting the intellectual property of those advancements.
Goals dictated by the secretary of the Navy include working to reduce the carbon footprint of the base by 50
percent by 2020. In that vein, the base is working with the China Lake Alliance to explore possible strategies
in researching and developing alternate energy solutions.
(O’Neil elaborated on many of these ideas in a separate interview with the News Review. The details will be
reported in next week’s edition.)
Innovators share success stories at conference
Guest speakers join local leaders in interpreting economic outlook
By REBECCA NEIPP,
News Review Staff Writer
News Review Staff Writer
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Conference. Speakers Scott O’Neil, executive director of NAWC?Weapons Division, and Rear Adm. Mat
Winter, commanding officer of NAWCWD, are pictured in the background. Photo by Laura Austin
Winter, commanding officer of NAWCWD, are pictured in the background. Photo by Laura Austin
