Short term solutions are killing the way we operate be it a startup or military company.

While I agree that you cannot operate effectively if you are always putting out fires and only hitting the 50meter target, knocking down one wall at a time without determining what's is next until you are their.

I am not all together sure I agree on either front. For any company/organization you must have a short term, near term and long term goals. These goals must be supported by a plan; essentially the solution to each phase or component of the plan. A plan is like an operations order, once the clock starts you will inevitably have to change direction based on many factors that can affect your path. This requires short term solutions to a previously unpredicted situation or issue. The trick is to have a leader who is capable of keeping their eye on the big picture guiding the team back on the original path with limited default from the origin. Have an long term plan, face the immediate threat while staying focused on the end game.

There is nothing inherently wrong with short-term solutions, CPT (Join to see). In fact, I would even argue that long-term solutions are little more than daydreams until you break them down into a coherent series of short-term solutions (or milestones, if you prefer projectese).

The real key is to look past the immediate short term and have at least a sense of the which way you are headed, so that you are moving through the woods instead of racing from tree to random tree.

Short term is certainly easy and it is without a doubt seriously detrimental to the military's long term sustainability... Contractors are the perfect example. Save on BOG by sending contractors instead of military personnel... Great for the here and now, but when you still need a contractor in 5-10 years, good luck finding one because they never got to learn what they need to be contracted for the last 5-10 years they were in the military. I see this as a massive concern for Army Aviation maintenance looming far too closely to the horizon than anyone is willing to admit.