Our Insight
Based on the teachings of notable military philosophers such as Sun Tzu, Clausewitz, Jomini, Liddell Hart and von Moltke, to name a few, emerge the principals of military science as we know it today. With time and technical advancements military philosophy evolves, changes and adapts. It deals with the same sphere as we all deal with, setting & achieving goals, making plans, situational awareness, adapting to changes, identifying and taking advantage of opportunities. Using the military as a source of learning comes from the fact that the military organizations have a long, well documented history of success as well as failure and the mechanisms for lesson learning and change. As the military has the state's resources it has invested heavily in the education and training of it’s leaders. True, there are many down sides to this system but we concentrate on identifying and adopting the best practices.
The Concept of operations
The Concept of operations is a guide for applying resources in order to obtain objectives, often a moving target, in an uncertain and complex- chaoticenvironment. It articulates a thought process that includes understanding the objectives, environment, planning, executing, adjusting, seeing thru the “fog of war” and being ready for the next operation. It is the cornerstone for “continuous improvement”. The doctrine has the inherent feature that drives: changes, Updates, rejuvenation of its components: organization, technology, material, leader development and the human dimension of the organization.
The objective is to set conditions that support the achievement of the overall intent. The organization must: A. Maintain its survivability according to the valuesvalidated guidelines and objectives. B. Maintain its core competency of conducting effective operations, identify changes and adopt accordingly under financial, time, environmental and other constraints by the principals of operations: Resolution, Innovation, combined efforts, Balanced situational awareness, Structured decision making process, Unity of command, Unity of goal, Agility, Flexibility, Utilizing power multipliers, Robust DSS and Organizational cohesion.
Operational Adaptability
Operational Adaptability is a critical capacity needed in order to meet objectives, identify, isolate, and overcome challenges. Operational adaptability requires flexibility of thought - leaders who are comfortable with: •Collaborative planning and •Decentralized execution, •Tolerance for ambiguity, •The ability to make rapid adjustments according to the situation. It is essential to developing situational understanding and seize, retain and exploit the initiative under a broad range of conditions. A part of the OA drive to maximize effectiveness is decentralizing operations to adapt to complex and rapidly changing situations. Yet, organizational or physical decentralization alone is insufficient. Leaders throughout, have the authority & judgment to make decisions and develop the situation through action. Critical thinking by employees and leaders will be essential to achieve the trust and wisdom implicit in such authority. The training and education of the entire workforce must aim to develop the mindset and requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities required to operate effectively under conditions of uncertainty and complexity. An additional part of OA is integrating new technology. To maximize the potential of technological developments it is essential to conscientiously evolve and adapt capabilities based on effectiveness, changes in our environment & objectives as well as the advancement in technology. To achieve clarity in thinking about challenge resolution, it is critical to evaluate and discuss the implications of the ideas presented in this concept. The language must be clear and the logic must be precise. The doctrine is an ever evolving thought process lit by leadership and carried by the entire organization.
Unified Operations
The Unified Operations doctrine provides a common concept for a wide range of operations, integrating the actions with inter-departmental, and multi-functional partners - a part of a larger effort, as defined by the objective (strategic or operational). The Unified Operations derives from the capstone doctrine. It recognizes: •The multi-dimensional nature of operations, •The need to conduct a fluid mix of proactive, reactive, and stability operations simultaneously. This doctrine builds on both these ideas, adding that success requires fully integrating operations with the efforts of joint, inter-departmental, and multi-functional partners. The central idea of Unified Operations is that units seize, retain, and exploit the initiative to gain and maintain a position of relative advantage in sustained operations to create favorable conditions.
The central idea of Unified Operations is that units seize, retain, and exploit the initiative to gain and maintain a position of relative advantage in sustained operations to create favorable conditions. This central idea applies to all operations— proactive, reactive, stability or other. This unifying principle connects the various tasks departments may perform. It adds the founding principles of flexibility, integration, effectiveness, adaptability, depth, and synchronization. It incorporates the principle that operational art is the connection between strategic objectives and tactical actions, and provides a common construct for organizing operations. The construct consists of: •The operations process, •An operations framework for visualizing and describing operations, and •The operating functions.