Increasing Flexibility and Agility at the National Reconnaissance Office: Lessons from Modular Design, Occupational Surprise, and Commercial Research and Development Processes

To help the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) become more flexible and agile in an increasingly uncertain world, RAND sought answers to two key questions: Would the NRO benefit from building modular satellites? What lessons might be drawn from how chief executive officers, military personnel, and health care professionals (among others) respond to surprise?