Posted by TheCurmudgeon

Predictability is a large part of why we build social systems like the economy or the government. So we are inclined to prefer what we know instead of embracing what we don't know.
I think everyone is making good points, and ultimately it comes down to finding the right balance. The point about predictability is something Kilcullen addresses at length in his new book where he expands upon a concept called "competitive control." In short, people do desire predictability and rules, which is a key part of the Islamist Strategy articulated in "The Management of Savagery," which may be why AQ extremists and communists were able to establish control relatively quickly compared to Western forces, because they imposed rules that everyone understood, where in some cases we imposed chaos, but that is a separate topic.

To me, I need to do some further research to see if I'm right, creativity means creating some new, so much of what is discussed about military units adapting is more along the lines of being innovative.

Creative examples, include the development of the nuclear bomb, the Air Force as a separate service, unmanned aircraft, etc. Allegedly Henry Ford said if he asked people what they wanted they would have said a faster horse, on one would have a said car because it was outside their ability to perceive such a thing. Creative ideas when implemented disrupt the existing norm. Where innovation generally works within the established system using existing technologies (the combinations of processes and technologies may be new, but that fall short of being creative).

Getting to Bob's point, about civilians in uniform being more creative than regulars this may be true. The OSS did things the regular military couldn't conceive of. In the book, "An Army at Dawn," the first in the trilogy on the war in Europe the author wrote prior to going into North Africa several Army Officers were resistant to the idea of adapting armor, they felt a good horse Calvary unit could defeat Rommel's armor, so it seems apparent we haven't found the balance between being creative and predictability in the military despite claims to the contrary.