Innovating with old ideas?

In the dynamic realms of global defence, security, and aerospace, BAE Systems stands as a beacon of innovation, consistently propelling its operations forward. Acknowledging the paramount significance of innovation in staying ahead within these rapidly evolving sectors, the company's commitment is exemplified by its annual innovation awards process, which serves as a catalyst for transformation.

Central to this process is the establishment of a definitive definition of innovation. During my tenure as a BAE Systems employee, the concept of innovation was succinctly conveyed to me as the "Successful exploitation of new ideas." In this context, the fruition of an effective end product emerges as a pivotal outcome of the innovation journey.

Diving into conversations about innovation across different organizations often reveals a common misconception – that innovation is confined to birthing novel ideas. However, as my experience within BAE Systems enlightened me, the potential of using existing ideas in novel contexts is equally transformative. My perspective crystallized under the guidance of a BAE Systems leader who emphasized that innovation encompasses deploying ideas in novel ways if they yield positive outcomes for the business.

Several years later, I found myself engaged in transitioning a substantial server-based system into service mode. This early stage of the program's lifecycle prompted collaboration with the lead engineer to devise strategies for effectively training fellow engineers in system support.

Drawing upon my background in Defence and aerospace, I proposed embarking with a Failure Modes Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA). This proposition bewildered the engineer, as it was not a prevalent practice in his prior experiences.

FMECA, a technique rooted in reliability engineering, evaluates the impact of component failures in a system. In my early career, dissecting the failure modes of discrete electronic components was straightforward, coupled with discerning their potential impacts through circuit analysis. However, the complexity heightened in modern software-based systems where intricate component interactions blur predictability.

Our focus lay on comprehending the absolute failure of each device, virtual or physical. We implemented clustering, Automated Failover, and load balancing to mitigate failure risks. Monitoring augmented by FMECA-derived data prioritized alerts based on identified impact severity.

Further, we extended the analysis to services. Suspending services manually unveiled varying impacts, from negligible to system-critical. Four services stood out – each housed on separate physical servers. Delving into the rationale, I discovered a paradoxical situation: while aiming to prevent single-server-induced failures, they inadvertently created a scenario where any server failure caused system-wide collapse, effectively quadrupling the failure rate.

At this juncture, action was imperative. Budget constraints precluded building out a cluster, so we converged all four services onto a single server in a VMware environment. Automated recovery and failover mechanisms were deployed, resulting in an incident-free period post-handover, as far as my knowledge extends.

Was this innovation? While the concept was age-old, traceable back to the 1940s, the context was novel. Rather than taking sides on this innovation dichotomy, it's prudent to acknowledge that value was augmented by reimagining an established idea within a new framework.

Innovation, as nurtured within BAE Systems, transcends mere novelty; it thrives on contextual transformation, leveraging age-old wisdom to bring about impactful change. The narrative serves as a testament to BAE Systems' commitment to pushing the boundaries of engineering and redefining innovation in a dynamic industry landscape.

-James