Five years ago today, The Cove opened its digital doors to the Australian Army and the world wide web. Regular followers of The Cove know we are huge advocates of reflection and this anniversary presented an opportunity to look back and examine the evolution of the original concept to where it is now. Whilst it is tempting to produce a diatribe of flattery about all the great work we have done (of which I will indulge a little), I would prefer to focus on asking the tough questions of whether what we are doing is the best thing for the Army.   

In the beginning

The 2016 White Paper stated 'the regional security situation is uncertain, and that a range of potentially destabilising events could quickly change Australia's security outlook for the worse. Rapid and unprecedented developments in information technology enabled a level of connectivity and access to knowledge that was unimaginable in the past.'[1] These drivers are what initiated The Ryan Review which concluded that whilst the system was not broken, areas required attention to meet future demands. The concept of 'A Continuous Learning Approach' was adopted, which looked to expand on the traditional formal education and training of residential courses, to a broader and deeper engagement in semi-formal and informal learning approaches. 'Comprehensive Accessibility' was determined as a key factor to break down the geographic, technical and cultural barriers that would enable a truly connected force, where education is continuous and self-sustaining.'[2] 

The Cove intended to (and I believe, still does) provide a recognisable and easily accessible portal, focussed on the profession of arms, with content that encouraged all levels of the Army to think critically and creatively. These skills then help soldiers and officers adapt quickly to a rapidly evolving battlespace. The Cove looked to offer: 

• an outlet to openly express and contest ideas within the military community 
• a 'less judgemental' space that encourages bravery by providing a platform to share considered opinions and be vulnerable to criticism,
• an opportunity to break the habit of 'group think'.

The fact that we have not faded into the abyss and are still growing (see graph below) means that people out there see the value in what we are providing. We are aware of the criticism that exists about The Cove: that only thrusters seeking glory and recognition in the PAC room are those that contribute, or that we are simply a censored mouthpiece for policymakers. From an insider's point of view I can see that this isn't true and wherever we can we try to convey that across Army as well as the capability benefit that The Cove offers to you.    

Without an Army equivalent of the education system's NAPLAN, it is difficult to measure if The Cove has 'raised the intellectual edge' of the Army, but it is apparent by the increased engagement in The Cove that more people are seeing its value.

'Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.' Theodore Roosevelt

The Cove is about giving you the tools to learn more and improve your critical thinking by challenging status quo and learning more about your profession. It would be disingenuous for us to espouse these actions, but then not conduct it ourselves. So, the Cove Team are asking ourselves, are we delivering what the Army needs? Inspired by the words of Teddy Roosevelt, are we doing the best we can to improve the Army's intellectual edge?

Behind the scenes this year, the Cove Team have taken steps to upgrade The Cove's user experience. We are branching out beyond traditional written articles and creating more rich media options such as podcasts, videos and audio articles, so there is greater variety to meet the different preferences of how you like to consume PME. We are undergoing a website redesign to improve the display of information, search function and announcements so that you can easily find content that is interesting to you.  

Whilst we are proud of these improvements, as I said, these are rather small evolutionary steps, not a PME revolution. But here is an idea...

Amongst ourselves we often refer to 'the sea of PME'. There is so much out there, and we are but one platform competing for your time and interest. Would it be better, rather than having a myriad of bespoke organisations (Smart Soldier, The Forge, Grounded Curiosity, Land Power Forum, Build on You to name a few), to amalgamate and combine our resources and efforts into a coordinated approach? Should we stop competing and duplicating effort, and combine resources which will then create space that will enable the next revolution in Army PME? Given all the PME focussed groups are aiming for the same outcome, why keep competing for your limited time for self-development and not just create one single, easy to use platform? I could even take this one step further and suggest that we could create a joint PME unit, where each service is represented and content produced to support single service issues, as well as content that discusses joint operations.

I raise this idea well aware of the risks associated with a mega-PME unit. In my time at The Cove we constantly wrestle with trying to be all things to all people but inadvertently not appealing to any. If all these PME resources were to combine, how could we ensure that the content being produced by this mega-PME platform is relevant, accessible and attractive to the entire organisation? We already struggle the with the tricky balance of offering regular content that is interesting to a wide variety of Army's people, and giving articles sufficient 'air-time' to be seen and consumed before it is overtaken by more recent published work. Maybe there is merit in each of the various PME platforms operating in their own space and producing content related to their target audience. 

Conclusion

Sometimes it is easy to fall into the trap of seeing the other PME platforms as competitors and in some ways they are; however, so long as we are all producing content that you are engaging with and challenges your thinking and perceptions then we are winning. In fact, a little healthy competition drives innovation and forces continuous improvement rather than stagnating. At the risk of being accused of tribalism and stove piping, I will bravely say that I like The Cove. I like that our focus is on Army and that our efforts are not diluted by the requirements to support the other services. We should definitely improve our collaboration with the various other PME organisations to leverage arrangements that would benefit us all. In the end, greater collaboration with other PME organisations to deliver a more coordinated and structured approach to PME can only be a good thing. The Cove will keep working towards whatever is best for you.