How the Military Can Finally Get Mission Command to Work: Lessons from Tech Companies
Jim Perkins | October 17, 2018
In The Charge of the Light Brigade, Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote of soldiers: “Theirs not to reason why; Theirs but to do and die.†More than 150 years later, his characterization helps explain why the US military has had so much trouble with the ongoing shift from traditional, rigid military leadership to “mission commandâ€â€”a change struggling to progress.
American doctrine defines mission command as a concept that “enables military operations through decentralized execution based on mission-type orders.†The definition goes on to explain that mission command is about delegating decisions to subordinates wherever possible, minimizing detailed control, and empowering lower-level initiative.
The US military formally adopted mission command in its doctrine in 2003, in recognition of the future speed and complexity of war in contested environments—a prediction echoed in the 2018 National Defense Strategy. Mission command has roots in the German concept of “auftragstaktik†that began in the late 1800s and became dominant in World War II.
https://mwi.usma.edu/military-can-finally-get-mission-command-work-lessons-tech-companies/
