The following came to me as an email. I don't know the sender, but the information, if given some thought, can relate to what we see everyday. Aside from formatting the file it is "as received."
"Remember Pearl Harbor - Keep America Alert"
"Remember Pearl Harbor - Keep America Alert" is the is the motto of the Pearl Harbor Survivors, who sadly will disband this year.
As we reflect on the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, I'd like to share a piece of an old report with timeless lessons, the
25 Deficiencies from the 1942 Pearl Harbor Congressional Report.
Perhaps you'll find something here you can use in your role preparing Americans for the worst.
These brave men remind us, as George Santayana wrote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it".
Below are those 25 deficiencies - how far have we come?
Thanks to all who demonstrate what it is to be a hero, and to you who pledge to live in honor of their bravery.
The Failures
- Organization
Multiple parallel organizations with ambiguous authority - Assumption
Information-sharing convention is not known or understood, but appropriate sharing to avoid disaster is assumed - Omission
Information-sharing distribution is incomplete, people and entities excluded - Verification
Commands/information sent, no follow-up to ensure understanding and action, capabilities or actions are assumed and not verified - Supervision
No close supervision to verify understanding and predictable action - compliance assumed - Alertness
Heightened alert is undermined by repeated training and exercises - Complacency
Vigilance relaxes from the day-to-day lull of business as usual; a "what-could-happen ?" attitude - Intelligence
No centralized intelligence services with tailored dissemination of intelligence products; too many independent sources of collection and analysis - Attitude
Superiors do not engage in open dialogue with peers and subordinates; the superiors act superior (arrogance) - Imagination
"Worst-case" scenarios not included in preparedness and response planning - Communications
Information exchanged is ambiguous, convoluted, or contradictory - no use of common "plain" language - Paraphrase
Messages altered according to assumption and no verification - Adaptability
Alert and response thresholds are not matched to the known threat environment - Disclosure
Intelligence so protected that it is inaccessible to those who urgently need it, rather than converting products to actionable information while protecting "sources and methods" - Insight
Inadequate understanding of the threat and capabilities to address this threat lead to underestimated risk - Dissemination
Information is not provided to subordinates who need to know - Inspection
Leaders do not know or understand their personnel and critical systems - Preparedness
Prepare for consequences of what a threat might do, instead of what it can do - Consistency
Official direction is contradicted by unofficial speculation from authorities - Protectiveness
Individual or organizational one-upmanship for real or perceived self-benefit - Relationships
Personal friendships inhibit identification and resolution of deficiencies or gaps - Priority
Failure to prioritize critical needs over day-to-day activities - Reporting
Subordinates fail to report information up the command chain - Improvement
Failure to identify gaps, particularly in worst-case scenarios, and correct them - Delegation
Responsibility is delegated with inadequate authority to act
Hope you'll find this of use; you are of course welcome to share...
From: Interoperability in Critical IT and Communication Systems
Dr. Bob Desourdis cites in his book quotes from the Congressional After Action investigation & report of 1945/46 on the failures of Pearl Harbor. Sharing as food for thought.
Michael
Michael Walker
443.986.7104
wirelesswalker@yahoo.com
www.vuetoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment