A Return on Investment

How H4MOD Rewrites the Handbook for Innovation

The ‘Hacking for Ministry of Defence’ (H4MOD) course pairs up MOD-sponsored problems with university student teams that work to solve them within ten weeks as an ‘innovation sprint’. Since its initial founding in 2019, H4MOD has worked on 250+ problems and engaged thousands of stakeholders from industry, academia and government on Defence’s toughest challenges. Capt Adam Ballard, Deputy Commander Surface Fleet, has been on both sides of the table; a MOD ‘Problem Sponsor’ and a student undertaking the H4MOD course at the Defence Academy as part of the Advanced Command and Staff Course (ACSC).

Mastering the Methodology

In 2021 I joined the H4MOD course as part of my MSc in Defence Innovation. My prior experience with Lean Start-up was zero, but since this is the founding methodology of the H4MOD curriculum, I had to get to grips quickly. I arrived on the Advanced Command and Staff Course with searching questions, for which the MSc gave me the language and academic rigor to fully articulate. But it was H4MOD that fundamentally changed the way I’ve done business; it rewired my brain in an exceptionally positive way. The methods of discovery, questioning initial assumptions, and ‘getting out of the building’ to find the root of a problem has been hugely impactful on how I approach my own work.

Speed Is of the Essence

I have a deep frustration with some of the traditional methods of procurement which define Defence. Although these work fine when buying major equipment like a Ship, a tank or an aircraft, we need to be able to iterate other capabilities far more swiftly. It is in this arena that H4MOD can really make a difference; the ‘problem-centric’ approach is a way to delve into the problem at hand before considering where we spend our money. The business-as-usual model needs to be reformed, as Defence doesn’t have enough resource, money, people, or time to do things traditionally anymore.

“The UK’s adversaries have innovation cycles measured in weeks, while we build capabilities for decades.”

Concrete Examples

I recently took up the opportunity to sit at the other side of the table and sponsor a problem for a team of students at King’s College London in the Department of War Studies. I enjoyed this experience greatly and have asked my colleagues to submit their own problems for the course, which twelve others have taken me up on - so far. Why do I do this? I champion the methodology simply because, for my team and me, it works. It not only empowers Sponsors to own projects and shake up their ways of thinking and day-to-day taskings, but it provides real, concrete examples of delivering innovation projects at pace to people on the frontlines.

A Valuable Resource

A further benefit to the H4MOD programme is the cost saving, which makes all the difference in my current role. The problems I have now would take too long or cost too much to try to solve through the traditional requirement route. To circumvent this, I use the innovation pipeline to deliver capability to the Fleet, often at 20X cheaper cost. A 20X reduction in cost goes incredibly far when trying to deliver operational capability. Another project is forecast to deliver me savings of £10-12m per year for one area whilst improving our capability; I can now reinvest this money in other critical capabilities.

We are a relatively lean team and therefore often don’t have capacity to look at all of our problems; H4MOD provides a huge number of talented students the opportunity to solve problems at a substantially cheaper cost than consultancies. Using resources like H4MOD to outsource problems is a smart financial decision. I’m very lucky to have progressed from being a student on the ACSC course to now overseeing a large portion of the Navy’s workforce and budget, therefore having the authority and finance to implement the H4MOD recommendations.

Looking Ahead

In five years’ time, I hope to see H4MOD embedded in the cultural normalcy of Defence, which I think it is well on its way to doing. In the three years since I’ve taken the course, I have seen H4MOD become more and more influential. Defence takes a long time to change, but the potential for change is there. H4MOD needs at least another five years for the early adopters to become inoculated innovators, and bring this mindset to the majority, so that in ten years’ time, the problem-centric approach is business-as-usual.

In the meantime, I will continue to champion H4MOD within the Royal Navy and use the course to bring evidence-based solutions to the Surface Fleet’s most challenging problems. On a personal note, not a day goes by that I don’t take the time to stop and think about a problem first before writing a requirement.

If you’re interested in getting involved in our H4 courses, contact us at info@commonmission.uk