Innovation Isn’t Always Expected
By Tim Violet
Director, Business Development, North America
We have seen innovations in technology that have changed the course of history: cellphones, laptops, email, social media, TikTok, GPS guidance, and so on.
But let’s look back on historical “innovations” and the impact on world events.
It is the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, March 1943, WWII, southwest Pacific.
The Japanese were running daylight convoys of supplies, soldiers, food, and ammunition for their efforts to control New Guinea. The war was raging. The frustrated U.S. Naval Command had been utterly unsuccessful with high-level bombing, and the convoys continued to get through.
In March of 1943, a Japanese resupply convoy set out once again. It consisted of eight destroyers providing “steel umbrella” protection for eight troop supply transports. The convoy leadership was confident in their disciplined, tried and true tactics. They knew U.S. naval attack methods. High-level bombing had proven ineffective against their anti-aircraft fire and multi-layered defense system.
INNOVATIONS!!!
The Japanese could not have predicted that a group of mechanics, engineers, and naval pilots were reimagining how naval warfare would be fought, and that their innovations would change it forever.
Two things happened.
They converted their bombers into “gun-ships” by mounting .50 caliber machine guns in the nose and on the wings. They also devised tactics to “bounce” bombs into the sides of ships while flying at low levels, just 200–250 feet above the waves, rather than dropping from high altitude.
Adding to the effectiveness, the Japanese did not see them coming until it was too late. They were looking up.
The nose-mounted guns shredded the ships, disabling anti-aircraft defenses. And when the bounced bombs struck during strafing runs, within 15 minutes, history was rewritten.
The convoy was destroyed.
Never again would naval leadership dare to make daylight resupply runs. Forced into nighttime operations, the volume of supplies never reached previous levels. The Japanese quickly fell short of the manpower and materials needed.
The battle was a disaster. Approximately 2,890 Japanese soldiers and sailors were killed.
The innovation came from low-level U.S. personnel. It would never have been allowed in the tradition-laden system of their enemy.
U.S. innovation overcame “the way we always did it.”
History was changed.
But it should be noted, the change did not come from the top. Leadership did not envision these innovations. It was the hands-on people, in the midst of need, who recognized that a different approach was required.
Innovation is needed, but many times we look away.
“If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.”
— Albert Einstein
Innovation requires a willingness to rethink the way work gets done.
ClaimDeck provides a new way to manage litigation with structure, visibility, and real-time insight, so teams can move beyond “the way it’s always been done” and start driving better outcomes.
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