Command and Control - Back to the Basics

Command and Control is a controversial term that has gathered a lot of negative connotations over the years (or maybe decades?!?!?).

First, I'd like to shift the lens on it, by defining the Command part as the feed forward - the signal traveling right-bound in the picture below -, while the Control part is the feedback connection - the signals traveling on the lower connection back towards the left of the diagram.

Right away, I feel way better about it. Since it allows me to see it in the perspective of the learning system:

1. First, the entity driving it issues a command.

2. Then, the system proceeds to execute in accordance with its understanding of that command.

3. At this point, one or multiple control modules collect measures/signals/metrics/parameters about the system.

4. In this step, the driving entity is presented with these points of feedback.

5. Finally, the driving entity makes a decision based on the info at hand to issue the next command.

This mental model applies to a lot of areas we work with - teams, departments, business units and even entire corporations.

And it is quite helpful to look at the processes in our professional environment this way. Where things could go wrong is the way we evolve the system of work.

If we start with the assumption that the command MUST BE RIGHT, we inevitably focus on how best to control a system that apparently misbehaves. What I mean by this is if we believe the person at the top of the hierarchy - the driving entity -, is always right and is always crisp and clear in issuing their "commands". Or if the culture in the organization does not provide us with reasonable, risk-free means to challenge these assumptions.

And if that is the case, another typical behavior is to layer on and add more and more Controls that will keep the system in proper ranges of functioning parameters. Rarely did I observe anyone trying to replace or remove pre-existing controls. The norm is to add more.

Over time, the resulting system encourages a set of counter-productive behaviors:

1. Lose or vague policies, practices and discipline around issuing commands that are crisp, clear and achievable by the system in its current state.

2. Layering of structures - organizational, reporting, communications - that adds complexity to the system and promotes additional filtering of the commands and especially the control measurements/metrics.

3. Obfuscation of goals and objectives. The lower levels of the organization, lack the understanding required for them to execute not only towards tactical, immediate goals, but also towards strategic and organizational objectives.

4. Significant dilution of responsibility and accountability.

For the organizations that identify any of the above as patterns of behaviors or challenges, I recommend a systems thinking approach to understand and eventually re-design their system of work by balancing the Controls with higher quality and accuracy of the Commands and the high fidelity channels of communication for both command and feedback messages and signals.

At this point, Command & Control is a useful model to understand the ways organizations operate, how they achieve their objectives, and where they could focus their efforts for improvement.