The Madness Continues: Third Annual Innovation Madness Competition

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  • USAFE-AFAFRICA Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany --  
The third annual Innovation Madness competition is underway as of March 9 throughout U.S. Air Forces in Europe, in an effort to encourage Continuous Process Improvement by highlighting Airmen ingenuity across the command.

The competition was conceived by U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa’s Innovation and Transformation Office and the Office of Financial Management and Comptroller in 2015.

“Your dedication to improving the mission continues to pay huge dividends for the command,” said General Tod D. Wolters, Commander, USAFE-AFAFRICA, in a letter to Airmen announcing the competition kick-off.

USAFE wings will have the opportunity to compete for a total of $250,000 in prizes throughout three rounds of competition.

“Last year, the innovative spirit from our Airmen spurred 378 innovations across USAFE, totaling $15M million and 174 thousand labor-hours in validated savings” said Wolters.

The grand prize, awarded to the overall most innovative wing, will receive $150,000. The second, third and fourth place winners will receive $50,000, $25,000 and $10,000 respectively. Additionally, $5,000 will be awarded to the wing that scores the highest during each round of judging.

Past Innovation Madness winners include the 48th Fighter Wing, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England in 2016, and the 86th Airlift Wing, Ramstein Air Base, Germany in 2015.

This year’s competition has taken on a new approach from the previous two years’ elimination-style bracket in which wings competed one-on-one against each other using limited criteria, according to Capt Monica Clements, Command Transformation Analyst.

“After the first week, half the competition was knocked out and there was no way of knowing how those four wings ranked against each other” explained Clements.

After receiving feedback from the wings, ITO partnered with the USAFE Analyses office to remove the elimination process for Innovation Madness 2017. This year, all wings will compete against each other in three separate rounds, each with its own focus area, culminating in an all-against-all “rack-and-stack” at the end of the competition, according Clements.

During the first round of judging, the focus will be on mission improvement initiatives based on the nomination package that each wing will submit to USAFE ITO.

The second round will be graded on a 59-second video highlighting the wing’s overall innovative culture. The videos will be posted to the USAFE Facebook page.

The third and final round will judge the wing’s CPI program. ITO will use total number of CPI events, total validated money and time savings and other CPI program criteria provided by Wing Process Managers throughout the year.

“Innovation Madness has vastly improved from previous years to more accurately measure what the CSAF values in CPI—reinvigorating squadrons, improving the mission, respecting Airmen’s time, making every dollar count and, ultimately, adopting CPI as a culture, not an extra duty,” concluded Maj Josh Failing, Deputy Division Chief of the ITO office. “Innovation Madness is meant to capture innovations at every level, no matter how small... because little improvements add up to game changing results,”
To be a part of the madness, visit www.facebook.com/hqusafe to “like” your favorite wing video and help decide who the second round winner will be.