Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century

Air Force senior leadership has called for a cultural change with the implementation of AFSO 21. However, AFSO 21 program managers should not expect a cultural transformation to "just happen." Instead, in addition to implementing the "hard" aspects of AFSO 21, implementation must directly address organizational culture. An analysis of AFSO 21 implementation was conducted using an organizational cultural framework previously applied to TQM. Upon overlaying guiding AFSO 21 values on to organizational culture dimensions, one sees that a drastic cultural change may not be necessary. Air Force core values and enduring leadership competencies are embedded basic assumptions all Airmen live by; therefore, AF leaders should capitalize on them while implementing AFSO 21.