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Cmj192ep15.Pdf MILITARY TECHNOLOGY DPL/Alamy Stock Photo/CNX6FT Stock DPL/Alamy The International Space Station, back dropped by space and Earth’s horizon. Enabling Organizational Resilience through Communication and Information Systems Design by Joseph Long Captain Joseph Long is a Signals Officer and Certified levels, paying particular attention to their use of Communications Information Systems Security Practitioner. He graduated from and Information Systems. Extracting lessons learned and best RMC in 2011 with a BSc in Computer Science. practices will show how adaptive organizations can best be enabled by CIS that creates shared consciousness, has low barriers to Introduction entry, and duplicates natural communication patterns. The article will also examine the trade-offs that must be accepted for he Canadian Armed Forces’ (CAF) operational resilience, and show how applying these lessons will enhance environment is becoming more ambiguous and future CAF CIS development and design. subject to rapid change. Leaders and organiza- tions are expected to confront situations of greater The Contemporary Operational Environment complexity than ever before. The contemporary Toperational landscape involves violent extremist organizations, Environmental Complexity climate change, cyber threats, humanitarian emergencies, and other new and unique challenges.1 The Department of National n the contemporary operational environment, State and Defence and the CAF are doing an excellent job training, I non-state actors are becoming increasingly more power- educating, and equipping members for expected operational ful and interconnected. These actors, unable to mass power challenges, but the current Communication and Information to enable a traditional ‘force on force’ confrontation against Systems (CIS) used by those members and organizations are Western industrial military might, use any and all techniques not built to best enable operations. available to gain an advantage. Global connectedness and the speed of communication exponentially increases the number This article will analyze three adaptive, resilient organizations and variety of actors with their competing interests who are celebrated for success at the Tactical, Operational, and Strategic able to participate in any given conflict. Canadian Military Journal • Vol. 19, No. 2, Spring 2019 15 The old ‘top-down’ command model where commanders Command vs Network could read carefully-collected reports from subordinates, con- coct elaborate and intricate plans, and execute operations on a This changing organizational dynamic by which deliberate timetable no longer exists. In order to be successful, organizations morph and reform is only possible when members military forces must integrate a wide variety of knowledge and are empowered to make horizontal connections enabled by the trust expertise, rapidly fusing diverse viewpoints to instantaneously of their superiors. Members at all levels of the hierarchy need to react to changing conditions. Decision-making authorities have develop relationships outside of their formal chain of command been pushed lower, as deployed detachments become smaller and to facilitate faster and more accurate passing of information to required reaction times become shorter. generate context for decisions. Expertise can easily be accessed when and as needed, from the most capable source. This networked organization is illustrated in the following diagrams:3 Author Figure 1: Command Figure 1: Command National Defence/Government of Canada of Canada National Defence/Government Resiliency Author The new Canada Defence Policy Report – Strong, Secure, Figure 2: Command of Teams Engaged, calls this “…a new approach to Defence: Anticipate. Figure 2: Command of Teams Adapt. Act,” clarifying, “…anticipating emerging threats and chal- lenges is fundamental to Canada’s security. The Defence Team will improve its ability to provide timely information to decision- makers, allowing the Government to identify and understand emerging events and crises, respond appropriately, and minimize the destructive effects of prolonged conflict.” This ability to rapidly and appropriately react to changing situations can be called “agility” or “resilience.”2 When situations become more complex than any one commander can completely understand and oversee, decision-making powers need to be distributed to lower levels, with the knowledge, intelligence, and context to best enable these subordinate decision-makers. Rapidly changing situations also require rapidly changing teams and structures to address these changes. Specialists, enablers, and operators from various units, governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and geographical areas must rapidly cohere Author into an effective force and then just as rapidly disband and reform in other ways for the next mission. Figure 3: Team of Teams Figure 3: Team of Teams 16 Canadian Military Journal • Vol. 19, No. 2, Spring 2019 Shared Consciousness computer operating system ‘kernel’ [the foundational layer of an operating system – Ed.] will show resilience in a large The “team of teams” networked structure, while important for “strategic level” and capability development organization. decision making and coordinating action, adds the most value to a networked organization by enabling a “shared consciousness.” Cajun Navy and Occupy Sandy Every member of a resilient organization needs to have a shared perception of the situation, mission, and context in which the One of the most striking examples of technology-enabled organization operates. As decision-making is delegated to lower resiliency and adaptations in recent memory is the emergence of levels, the decision-makers (note that the Defence Policy Review community-based aid groups in the aftermath of natural disasters refers to “decision-makers,” not “commanders,”4) need to have the in the United States. information required to correctly and optimally decide in line with the organization’s requirement. In late-October 2012, Hurricane Sandy struck the Eastern Seaboard of North America, killing more than 150 people, destroy- Shared consciousness also reduces friction internal to ing at least 650,000 houses, and causing more than $71.4 billion organizations. Disputes between sub-units for shared resources (USD) in damage in the US alone.5 As official aid organizations can be minimized when each sub-group understands why each struggled to cope, and within hours after hurricane landfall, other sub-group is requesting the resource, as well as how other members of the Occupy Wall Street [Occupy Sandy] movement groups will use it to accomplish the shared mission. on social media began coordinating ad-hoc aid and assistance. Within days, an estimated 60,000 volunteers were providing MILITARY TECHNOLOGY Case Studies direct aid (food, water, warmth), medical and psychological care, remediation and rebuilding support, case management and legal n order to illustrate important factors in designing and assistance, as well as fundraising.6 I maintaining resilient CIS, this article will examine three suc- cessfully resilient organizations. The Cajun Navy and Occupy In a common thread, emergent citizen organizations have been Sandy will illustrate resiliency in rapid reaction forces achiev- observed following other major disasters, often taking advantage ing tactical success. General Stanley McChrystal’s description of social media to coordinate efforts. A similar group, the Cajun of his Joint Special Operations Task Force in Iraq is an excel- Navy, a loose grouping of volunteers with private fishing boats, lent example of a military formation achieving operational conducted search and rescue missions alongside trained first success. Finally, the open team developing the popular Linux responders7 in Texas and Louisiana after Hurricane Harvey struck Class Jon-Paul Rios/1125049 Class Jon-Paul rd DVIDS/U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3 Officer Petty by photo Guard Coast DVIDS/U.S. U.S. Coast Guard petty officers conducting a pollution assessment in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, 11 November 2012. Canadian Military Journal • Vol. 19, No. 2, Spring 2019 17 the southern US in the summer of 2017. Coordinating all missions over 13,500 developers from more than 1300 companies have with free smartphone apps, hundreds of volunteers rescued thou- contributed to the code since 2005.11 sands of fellow citizens. The volunteers were eventually officially recognized by the federal government for saving thousands of lives. Principles of CIS-Enabled Resilience General McChrystal’s “Team of Teams” hile the Cajun Navy, General McChrystal’s Joint W Special Operations Task Force, and the Linux kernel In 2003, then-Major General, now retired General Stanley development community have wildly different organizational McChrystal took command of a Joint Special Operations Task structures, cultures, goals, and methods, there are striking Force in Iraq, transforming it from a reactive, ‘siloed’ organization similarities. Each has emerged in response to uniquely-chal- into an efficient and effective counter-terrorism force, ultimately lenging situations, all place a premium on collaboration and finding and killing Al-Qaeda-in-Iraq leader communication, and all have demonstrated Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. In a new book, Team remarkable resilience and adaptability, of Teams, General McChrystal describes steps “It almost goes without leading to success. he took to transform his efficient but inflex- ible and hierarchical organization into the
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