New Technologies for Growing Leaders: Assessment of Wisdom

The Army has recently become engaged in numerous Support and Stability Operations (SASOs) throughout the world. Compared to combat operations, SASOs are considerably more complex and ill-defined. Success requires that Army leaders view problems from a Joint Forces mindset, recognize the long-term implications of their decisions, and make complex value judgments in the absence of clear, correct answers. In short, these missions require wise leadership. The Army recognizes this need, and is searching for an effective way to develop wisdom among junior-level Army leaders. Aptima proposes to develop a scenario-based assessment tool: the Army Wisdom Assessment and Readiness Development (AWARD) system. AWARD will assess the level of wisdom for enlisted Soldiers, NCOs, and junior officers; diagnose areas for improvement; and identify meaningful developmental experiences. During Phase I, we laid the foundation for AWARD by developing: a theoretical framework of wisdom as it pertains to Army leaders; a scenario-based, paper-and-pencil instrument for assessing wisdom; and a detailed research plan for assessing AWARD’s validity and utility. During Phase II, we will develop a web-based tool that uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques to automatically score the users’ responses and provide them with diagnostic feedback for improving their level of wisdom.