In March of 2020, the majority of offices in the United States closed to protect its most precious resource, it’s people, from the coronavirus (COVID-19). The Department of Defense leaned forward and transitioned to a majority telework environment. How does an organization that is “key and essential” continue to operate? What are the mechanisms and fundamental processes that enable productivity in vulnerable, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environments? The field grade officer must be adaptive and agile in operating any of the settings that may present as a result of COVID-19. These categories are the new normal.
COVID-19 rapidly created a new normal. One that forced leaders to be more technologically savvy. However, this crisis has shed light on an organizational blind spot of the workforce’s technological understanding. For organizations built on direct leadership, the idea of leading remote teams is a foreign concept. Or is it…?
I believe that this natural experiment will create three distinct categories of organizational environments on the other side of COVID-19:
- Fully-Remote: Remain operating entirely in a virtual environment.
- Back to the Future: Attempt to immediately return to how operations were in November 2019 and assume that COVID-19 was a black swan event.
- Innovative Hybrid: Leverage the lessons learned, recombine all the experiences, and create an entirely new regular or Hybrid Work Experience.
Unfortunately, not all organizations are going to be able to sustain an entirely virtual environment. The primary national security mission requires a continuous readiness reality. Training will not stop. The workforce may have been able to transition for this brief period but might be ill-equipped to operate completely virtual. Human nature demands person-to-person interaction. As the future staff officers and commanders, there must be an understanding of the necessary balance to achieve effective outcomes. This new normal requires leaders who can apply a framework that connects strategy, operations, and tactics. The Army operated in tough transitions from the Spanish Flu in 1918, World War II, 9/11, and the Ebola pandemic. The overarching framework of mission command allows the Army to be agile and lead through the friction of the VUCA world we operate. It enables the effective use of people, processes, and technology.
The Framework: Mission Command
The Army has become proficient at leading remotely through its mission command systems. For example, over a decade ago, as an Aviation Task Force Operations Officer, I was able to remain connected to the Brigade headquarters daily via Adobe Connect. As a battalion commander, we leveraged the Joint Battle Command Platform (JBC-P). The Army is adaptable and has the technology available to adjust to the new normal. Although this current environment is unique and extreme, the Army has a mental model of not only operating but thriving and managing friction. To be adaptive, the Army already has a framework that allows agility, adaptability, and provides a systems-thinking approach.
There are art and science to leverage mission command effectively. The art comprises three principles: Mutual Trust, Risk Acceptance, and Disciplined Initiative, while the science consists of four principles: Mission Orders, Shared Understanding, Commander’s Intent, and Competence.
Mutual Trust: Creating effective, cohesive teams can be a significant leadership challenge. The mutual trust developed through similar experiences is foundational for team effectiveness. When Soldiers arrive at a Combat Training Center for Reception, Staging, Onward Movement, and Integration, they must operate in contaminated environments; leaders use the experiences to provide a consistent narrative: “We’ve done this before, and this is just a little twist.
Risk Acceptance: Risk management is the key to moving an initiative forward. It is not always about selecting the best choice. For example, at Fort Riley, Kansas, the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade continues flight training. The leaders mitigate observable risk through the implementation of processes that protects the force while simultaneously not degrading readiness. One example is taking all flight crews’ temperature and sanitizing the cockpits before and after each flight. In this VUCA environment, leaders must discuss Risk to Mission, Risk to Force, and Who owns the risk at what level, and how you mitigate. The narrative is vital for leaders to explain to HHQ and lower-level units because it allows them to Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act faster to problems not seen by HHQ.
Disciplined Initiative: Leaders at the tip of the spear must assess the situation, react quickly in the operational environment, and achieve the desired end state provided in the commander’s intent. When the commander’s intent is not clearly communicated, leaders, must draw on their experience and make decisions that progress organizational initiatives. It is imperative that as agile decision making is occurring, the leader is informing their immediate supervisor in order to “level the bubbles”. In early March 2020, the leadership at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, KS, decided to transition to a virtual teaching environment. The initiative of the faculty and staff to ensure appropriate systems existed, and the team of teaching experts to quickly leverage best practices made this unthinkable situation a reality.
Mission Orders: Mission orders or directives can be virtual and verbal. The Headquarters, Department of the Army communicated the intent to manage summer transitions and critical guidance to commanders to understand that protecting the force was the priority.
Shared Understanding: Creating a shared understanding is the most crucial step in developing a team. Providing the bigger picture is an essential leader requirement that is more necessary in a crisis and integrated into the fiber of how the Army operates. The Commanders Update Brief, for example, creates a shared agreement that provides subordinate leaders the information they need to operationalize into tactical tasks.
Commander’s Intent: Joint Publication 3-0, Joint Operations, says, “The commander’s intent is a clear and concise expression of the purpose of the operation and the desired military end state that supports mission command, provides focus to the staff, and helps subordinate and supporting commanders act to achieve the commander’s desired results without further orders, even when the operation does not unfold as planned.” The Army Leadership has communicated the need to protect the force and train to ensure we ready for any contingency.
Competence: Leaders are required to illustrate capability. Increased effectiveness does not occur through serendipity but enhanced through repetition. The experiences of fighting Ebola in West Africa by leaders connected to U.S. Africa Command are essential mental models that enable leaders to be effective. Those leaders who were part of the Ebola effort have the necessary knowledge is being leveraged. Understanding how to manage a global supply chain during a pandemic is a core experience.
The principles of mission command are essential to lead through the present and future friction. The world is transitioning into a New Normal, and leaders must know how to navigate it and not forget the basics, like TEWTs.
Colonel Hise Gibson is a career aviation officer who is currently an Academy Professor of Systems Engineering at the U.S. Military Academy. He is a former Battalion Commander in the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) in the 82nd Airborne Division and holds a Doctorate in Technology and Operations Management from the Harvard Business School. His operational experience includes assignments in Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, and the United States.