17th ICCRTS 014 C2 agility v037

Agility is a theme which arises in relation to a range of endeavours in the military and the non-military world, appearing either in accounts of practical experience or in statements of aspirations. Concepts of agility have recently been surveyed in the course of an ongoing study of C2 agility conducted for the UK MOD. Whilst the accounts presented of agility differ widely, common to all of them is the interplay between continuity (i.e. preservation of identity and forms of order) and change. Both continuity and change imply some notion of time, but different concepts of agility adopt different uses of time, and indeed different forms of time. This paper will focus on different ways of reasoning with time in the context of agility, including both how agility is engendered and how agility is exhibited. The paper will show how using the wrong form of reasoning with time can produce inappropriate metrics for agility. The paper will further show that the pursuit of inappropriate metrics can frustrate the intention to realise particular concepts of agility in order to respond to key change drivers. Introduction – the role of time in reasoning about C2 agility Today’s discussions of command and control (C2) arise against the background of increasing complexity observed in recent and current operations (complex multi-actor operational environments, military coalitions, interactions between multiple Instruments of Power). Moreover there is strategic uncertainty about the nature and context of future operations, and the interplay between defence and security concerns. The term ‘agility’ is frequently cited (in both the military and non-military worlds) in circumstances where demands may be changing rapidly, where it is difficult to make firm commitments now as to how future demands will be met, and where pressures on assets and resources may preclude the insurance of investing in the capacity to cope with all unforeseeable events. Alberts [1] defines agility as “the capability to successfully effect, cope with and/or exploit changes in circumstances”. The term ‘C2 agility’ challenges us to understand the implications for C2 of approaches to agility, whilst understanding clearly that ‘agile C2’ is not pursued for its own sake but to facilitate broader operational agility. The phrase ‘changes in circumstances’ has strong connotations of situations arising or events unfolding over time. Agility, having forms and natures of change at its core, is conceptually related to time. Many entries in the academic and military research literature under agility [2] refer to time, e.g. “timing = sooner or span = shorter”. Indeed one of the six dimensions of agility identified by the SAS-085 working group [3] makes an explicit reference to time: • responsiveness: the ability to react to a change in the environment in a timely manner. But agility is not confined to being about reacting (i.e. acting in response) to environmental changes; and there are other approaches to dealing with environmental changes than waiting and reacting. Intuitively we may think of some of these approaches as ‘slower-time’ or anticipatory. 1 The ideas in this sentence could align with themes in Daniel Kahneman’s recent book: “Thinking, fast and slow”.