Project White Horse Forum

This post has two distinct purposes and is in two parts.  The first purpose, following on the announcement in the Spring Edition Editor’s Note, is to serve as the opening post on leadership as it pertains to the discussion of the concept of Resilient Communities - the Summer Edition focus.  The second purpose is to provide context for  part two of the post - a book review by Dr. Dag von  Lubitz (PWH advisor) on the recently published book by retired Army Generals Zeb Bradford and Frederic Brown (also PWH advisor).

If you “Google” leadership, you will find that there  are 158 million sites noted.  Yet the events of this century make me wonder if we really understand what leadership must be in our current environment, and lead me to ask on the opening page of the website what if nothing leaders have ever been taught or experienced is sufficient to the problem? 

The implication is that there is more to survival in worst case disasters than just “who’s in charge,” and  that we as citizens need to be less expectant of the arrival of duex ex machina and the cavalry , and become more able to be an active part in our own survival when worst cases occur. Leasdership required – but maybe of a different kind.

The nature of worst cases is that the complexity and chaos generated, almost by definition mean that no leader by himself is capable of the multi-faceted decisions required.  Bradford and Brown provide a concept worth significant consideration for how to get solid decisions when faced with great uncertainty.  Their team of leaders (TOL) is composed of three parts: Information Management (IM), Knowledge Management (KM), and Commander Leader Teams (CLT).  The “team” concept runs both horizontal and vertical, endeavoring to build actionable knowledge. The TOL thread and its make-up, how you go about constructing one, and why this is a “resilient community” core element will be the subject of follow-on posts.  The review of the book in Part 2 is a necessary initial step.

Please read RC#13 (Part 2) Model for Interagency Effectiveness