Towards a More Comprehensive Understanding of Lethality
W.A. Rivera and Arnel P. David
Word choice matters. The definition of a word even matters more. Why bother defining something as obvious, as clear a word, as lethality. Everyone knows what it means, so why define it. Well, that is precisely the problem. You see, the minute people say, “everyone knows what it means,†that is when a clear definition is needed. Why? Because what “everyone knows what it means,†usually means is that no one really knows what it means, everyone has different and possibly competing definitions of what it means, or the thing is so insignificant that no one cares what it means. A similar point on lethality was made by Olivia Garard in the Strategy Bridge.
Absent a clear understanding of lethality the term becomes a catchall or worse, diverts attention and resources away from other critical requirements. Zachary Tyson Brown warns it risks “putting on conceptual blinders that, while keeping an organization focused on an immediate goal, prevent it from seeing vulnerabilities or opportunities that lie beyond its immediate field of view.â€[ii]
https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/towards-more-comprehensive-understanding-lethality
