Doctrine drives strategy - yes, but strategy also drives doctrine.

"All politics is local." Tip O'Neil, Speaker of the US House. - yes and necessarily so.

Stuff drives doctrine which drives stategy which drives doctrine whch drives stuff - which came first, the chicken or the egg? - yes

Staff UW is HOW "we" can influence strategic development. Writ large, it is the story of the surge (see Woodward's The War Within, Robinson's Tell Me How This Ends, and Ricks' The Gamble).

Back to politics and strategy and for a different definition, see Steve Metz' Iraq and the Evolution of American Strategy. This also raises the question of Grand Strategy, National Strategy, Theater Strategy...

On innovation, we go back and forth. But, in the end, my perception (nod to Marct) is that the military does tend to reward it more often than we suspect. I have been amazed at the number of our newly selected general officers who don't fit the expected mold/career pattern.

Cheers

JohnT