DoD Nuclear Enterprise Review

[raivo]

A few weeks ago, the OSD released a report by an independent panel on the problems within the DoD nuclear enterprise. While most of it obviously applies specifically to the US military, there's some interesting quotes in there about leadership and organizational management that I think are good food for non-nuclear thought (both in the military and in CAP.)

http://www.defense.gov/pubs/Independent-Nuclear-Enterprise-Review-Report-30-June-2014.pdf

In an effort to avoid rather than properly prioritize and manage risk, higher-level leaders and functional staff agencies are more likely to add to the excessive direction than to filter the non-mission essential demand. In many cases, in response to an inspection failure or untoward incident, new burdensome processes are implemented in an attempt to ensure "this never happens again." This reactive approach has led to a widespread substitution of process and procedure for personal responsibility and commander/supervisor responsibility, authority, and accountability. With the longstanding insistence on perfection on all fronts, a culture has evolved in which commanders accept attempts to eliminate the possibility of error in even non-essential processes and procedures through means that are so cumbersome and inefficient that overall risk to the mission increases.

In many respects, the chain of command has allowed inspections and individual testing to supplant the authority and accountability of commanders. This is yet another high-consequence disconnect. Inspections are to contribute to the effectiveness and efficiency of the unit in maintaining daily readiness to perform its mission. Toward that end, inspectors should provide commanders insight so that commanders can make decisions. In practice, the chain of command has vested a degree of authority in inspectors that has resulted in commanders ceding their authority to inspectors and to the inspection regime.

Avoiding risk by avoiding the problem until it becomes a major issue is a near inevitable outcome of risk-averse cultures. Too often, it takes a significant event for the leadership to recognize major problems within the force.

I'll leave you all to discuss this... as for me, my safety currency has expired and I'm now officially a hazard to my unit, so I'm going to go click through some Powerpoint slides and take a quiz on fire extinguisher usage so as to become safe again.