Art Cebrowski
February 17, 2006
With help from Tom Barnett, one of the change agents we were able to interview for the paper was Art Cebrowski. When Admiral Cebrowski left the Pentagon in early 2005, it was generally understood throughout Washington that he was sick. Despite the fact that this would likely be one of his last interviews, he graciously agreed to be interviewed for the change agent paper over the phone. Even via phone, a conversation with Cebrowski was simply amazing; I could only imagine what it would be like to meet him face to face. The conversation began with him drilling my colleague Nathan Brewer and me about Sapient and what we do for the Government, a jumping off point which set the stage for a wonderful conversation.
Cebrowski became one of the most quoted sources in the paper. We considered him a Transformational Leader, a term that he actually preferred over that of 'Change Agent'. He was fond of inventing new language, and terms like "self-synchronization" and "network centric warfare" are attributed to him. Inventing new language is a hallmark of any change agent, and Cebrowski helped us to understand that, "you can't expect old language to carry new ideas".
When asked to expand on this tendency amongst change agents, Cebrowski said, "Have you heard the words Network Centric Warfare son?" "Yes sir," we replied. "Can you go to a conference in Washington where that term is not used when people are talking about warfare?" "No sir," we replied. "Well I coined that term, and it came to me after hearing Scott McNealy of Sun Microsystems say, 'the network is the computer'".
Another quote from the interview:
"Transformation is about creating or at least anticipating the future. If you do not create your own future, you will become the victim of the future created by someone else."
Art Cebrowski passed away in November of last year, leaving behind an amazing set of accomplishments and a grateful nation. I am thankful for having the opportunity to speak with him, and capturing some of his immense wisdom.
This site was recently created to chronicle the many articles written about Cebrowski after his death.