Military Lessons Learned

Military leaders make decisions and solve problems every day. Some need a decision quickly while others can take time. The US Army has several decision-making methods to assist leaders. The Army Problem Solving Model (Process) (PSM) is a systematic approach to identifying the best possible solution to an issue or problem and a deliberate method of decision-making (FM 6-0, 2009). Leaders use it to solve a problem when time is not critical and they can put some thought into different solutions. The solution must be objective and based on facts in order for the decision to be relevant and practical. The

My personal creative thinking profile consists mainly of implementing and clarifying. Based on the "Tapping into Our Creative Thinking Skills to Manage Complex Problems" my first and second preferences are implementer and clarifier, respectively. I have always been an implementer, focused primarily on making moves in order to put ideas to work. I enjoy seeing the results of my plans in action. For example, as the president of Global Brigades, a medical mission’s organization, I spend less time talking about logistics of the mission and more time taking action to make the mission a reality. When the rest of the executive board struggles to plan out details, I focus on making moves and taking it from there. Therefore, I am quick to gear into action, in the hopes that I will learn as I go. I am also very persistent to make my plans a reality. When we needed campus funding for our mission, I made sure I knocked on the dean’s door at least a hundred times to get that funding. I delegated my executive members to meet with all the administrators of our campus to state our case. Finally, my persistence and action oriented attitude, earned us complete funding for our trip. As an implementer, I would often get annoyed when the executive board calls for meetings four to five times a week to discuss the same issues and concerns they have discussed before. I would encourage the team to discuss an issue and solve the issue there and then, in a single sitting. For example, we needed to

Teamwork is important to complete any task and without it you have chaos. Everyone knows the saying “a team is only as strong as the weakest player,” this saying can be put to use for sports but it doesn't come into play for other industries. If doctors, pilots, food industries, and construction workers used this for everyday work they would be more efficient. Furthermore, every industry that has ever existed knows that there is always going to be something unexpected. Gawande recommends that when a team is working together and they can't seem to figure out what the problem is they should, “stop and talk through the case together”(101). When a group of workers uses this democratic way of thinking they critique each other and end up improving one another by showing them a different way of thinking. For example, many think surgeons rule the operation room and what they say goes, but in actuality they make mistakes like everyone else so this rule will actually save lives.

As leaders, Army officers need to be able to make decisions on a daily, even hourly basis. While the Military Decision Making Process (MDMP) is the typical method for operational decisions, routine issues often require less regimented methods such as Army Problem Solving . Our point of view, the information at hand, the concepts we base our views upon, our personal implications and assumptions, and the purposes that motivate our need for decisions are all critical in determining the ultimate effectiveness of this problem solving process. Drs. Paul and Elder enumerate the “Elements of Thought” which include and incorporate supporting traits and standards. Through proper integration of these accepted standards into our thought processes can and does significantly improve our overall use of the Army Problem Solving process by enhancing our critical thinking skills and our ability to think rationally.

These competencies are important to my development because both of them incorporate characteristics of the Theorist and Planner mission specific competencies. In my opinion, one has to be a Strategic Theorist and Planner in order to advise and/or lead in a strategic organization. Additionally these two competencies relate strongly to civil-military relations, an important and necessary aspect of modern strategic leadership and advice. Although I have gained some insight into the civilian perspective by working at a civilian airline for about a year and a half, this is an area in which I, as a former operational level leader, see potential for further personal development.

When working with companies, an employee has to wonder from time to time what makes management tick. What is the source of their decision-making practices? Why should people strategize in business or in war? Well first let’s define what is strategy? “It is a plan, method, or series of maneuvers or stratagems for obtaining a specific goal or result: a strategy for getting ahead in the world.” (dictionary.com, 2012) The main purpose of this article is to enhance our ability to think strategically. In addition, identifying how as managers and leaders of all organizational levels can

/ The mentioned research in this article by McIntyre and Salas could be one of basic steps in understanding the team work aspects. Undoubtedly, it can be used related to future research in favour of finding solutions in this regard. (McIntyre & Salas 1995,p. 41). The military teams focus on researches in order to understand the major aspect of team working. As it is mentioned in this article, some similarities can be found among military or non-military organizations concerning hierarchical structure and strategic decision making. Moreover, it is almost challenging to find exact number from real life in order to make statistical assessment, and it’s very costly to hire people from their actual profession to conduct research on artificial environment (McIntyre & Salas ,1995, p. 35). Another important point that should be considered is that the study concentrated on team working instead of working individually. Over the study period, the required data are gotten through interviews and also daily base forms. Based on the forms and conversations results , nineteen key principles are found which are the necessary and important aspects (findings) of team working. The importance of the team leader role is noticeable to obtain the defined targets. In this regard, team leader has the key role in a team and also should accept the main

First, being a strategic Airmen means executing daily mission goals within acceptable levels of risk and safety that supports Air Force doctrines and National Security policies as developed by senior leaders with the fewest resources possible. Airmen at all levels of leadership (e.g. tactical, operational, and strategic) must continuously be afforded the right to design and plan strategies about how operations will

By your own orientation to cooperative work in a mission-driven organization like the armed forces, do you consider yourself to be a strategic thinker, a tactical planner, or a logistician? How do you determine that, and how does your own daily life and work demonstrate that?

Strategic thinking involves using ethical and moral reasoning to think about the future of an organization. This type of thinking usually starts about changes that you have noticed in the organizational climate, which are usually called mental models. Mental models are simplified understandings or representations of the phenomena that the organization encounters. These type of models can tell a strategic leader what is and is not important to the organization, what they do and do not like, what they should and should not notice. By knowing this, they include understandings of how things work and what are expected

Strategic planning involves making decisions about the organization’s long-term goals and strategies and how the organization decides to implement their goals (Bateman, Snell, Konopaske, pg. 113). Strategies help organizations to have a clear perspective on how to go about accomplishing the goals they have in place. All organizations have a clear vision of what their mission and purpose as a company is, they know how to fulfill the mission, vision, and purpose and they know how to ensure that they accomplish all their goals. However, the route the organization takes to define these things determines how effective they will be.

Strategic leadership entails making decisions across different cultures, agencies, agendas, personalities, and desires. It requires the devising of plans that are feasible, desirable, and acceptable to one’s organization and partners whether joint, interagency, or multinational. Strategic leadership demands the ability to make sound, reasoned decisions specifically, consequential decisions with grave implications. Since the aim of strategy is to link ends, ways, and means, the aim of strategic leadership is to determine the ends, choose the best ways, and apply the most effective means. The strategy is the plan; strategic leadership is the thinking and decision making required to develop and effect the plan.

* Strategy exists in the mind of the leader in the form of a vision of the organization’s future.

Strategic Thinking can be described as a process which enables senior management to create a strategy, debate relevant issues, evaluate the internal and external environment, create strategic goals for the organisation and carry the strategy through effectively. (Decision Processes International, 2008)

Strategic thinking is defined as the management’s vision of the company; what it should look like in the future. It is the vision that drives the direction, nature and focus of the business. Strategic planning focuses on the ‘how’ aspects; How the organization is going to achieve that vision.