Getting a Grip on the Pentagon

How do you wrestle an unwieldy, $700 billion behemoth into submission?  That was the challenge facing Ash Carter, former secretary of the Department of Defense and this week’s guest on Masters in Business.

Carter, who has worked with every president from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama, says his background in theoretical physics and medieval history helped him understand how to maneuver through the labyrinthine systems of the Pentagon bureaucracy. He created processes to improve purchasing efficiency, including incentives and penalties for major weapons manufacturers. He also brought talent from Silicon Valley to the Pentagon to beef up its technological capabilities.

Carter describes his role after 9/11 in coordinating U.S. intelligence and why he opposed creating a separate bureaucracy in the Department of Homeland Security. He preferred instead a coordinated intelligence, defense and law-enforcement standing joint operation.

He is author of 11 books on military strategy, including most recently, “Inside the Five-Sided Box: Lessons from a Lifetime of Leadership in the Pentagon.”