Hi TAB,
I assume you are talking about a punctuated equilibrium model of evolution here and it is, IMO, a minor possibility. The "changes" you refer to do happen for quite discernible reasons: fluctuating environments, parcellation and local extinctions being the main ones (cf W. Calvin, Six Essentials). Applying these to the current situation vis a vis "learning" / "education" within TRADOC is somewhat tricky.
The first catalyst, fluctuating environments, appears to have a certain amount of face value until you look at the actual environment in which TRADOC operates, i.e. competition between organizations for funding within the US governmental structure. Still, an argument can be made along those lines.
The second and third catalysts, parcellation and local extinction, are barely applicable to TRADOC in the current situation, although parcellation has more applicability than local extinction (for this, think about the fall of the Soviet Union).
What we are dealing with, at least in general, evolutionary terms, is a combination of these three catalysts operating on different time spans. Since cultural evolution operates differently than biological evolution, we have to be careful about extending the theory to it either really or rhetorically.
A point mutation argument? Unlikely in the extreme unless there was a catastrophic event along the lines of a Road to Damascus conversion that hit the entire group assembled there . Far more likely that the event marked a slight "hardening" of selection criteria and, in all probability, only of positive selection criteria.
I saw a similar attitude at the TSLC last August, and I have been using it as an excellent example of how to conduct cultural engineering inside an hierarchical organization. I would urge you, however, to beware of group think memes such as "we should all be eager to work" since that is, actually, counter to the stated thrust of the entire revamping of the PME system.
Cheers,
Marc
Bookmarks