Major Donald E. Vandergriff (US army retired) – see previous posts (1, 2) – describes a model for educating adaptive leaders, with the aim of producing a student that can demonstrate an ability to:
- Rapidly distinguish between information that is useful in making decisions and that which is not pertinent
- Avoid the natural temptation to delay their decisions until more information makes the situation clearer, at the risk of losing initiative
- Avoid the pitfall of thinking that once the mission is underway, more information will clarify the tactical picture
- Feel the battlefield tempo, discern patterns among the chaos, and make critically important decisions in seconds
The leader will also have developed: “strength of character; experience and intuition through repetitive skills training; an understanding of the value of self-study; and proper understanding of a command climate that promotes adaptability, accepts change and encourages innovation.”
So how does Vandergriff think its done?Leadership education needs to provide a framework within which students are confronted by unfamiliar tasks – tasks which take them well beyond their rank and comfort level.
They then need to be given the space to demonstrate initiative, build intuition by beginning to recognise patterns, and experience ‘the emotional trauma of [failure] within a safe, face-saving environment.”
Finally, they need to be forced to look upwards and outwards, developing the intellectual curiosity that expands horizons, develops judgement, and encourages self-criticism and a willingness to experiment.
The instruction programme is based on “an experiential learning model that enables adaptability in a continual learning feedback loop, including the use of: (1) a case study learning method; (2) tactical decision games; (3) free play force-on-force exercises; and (4) feedback through the leader evaluation system.”
Scenarios, or case-studies, are at the heart of the method – cheap to develop, “student leaders can go over literally of [them] without ever leaving the classroom… scenarios establisg a solid foundation to understand decision-making prior to moving into the field.”
Scenarios should not spoon feed participants. Information should be partial, forcing students to make assumptions. Time should be limited to add pressure. Mentors should keep pushing teams into unfamiliar territory. And assessment should be used to create a desire to perform.
Throughout the programme, students should be evaluated using the following questions:
- First and foremost, did the student make a decision?
- If so, did the student effectively communicate it to subordinates?
- Was the decision made in support of the commander’s intent (long-term contract) and mission (short-term contract)?
- If not, was the student’s solution based on changing conditions that made it a viable decision, even if it violated the original mission order but nevertheless supported the commander’s intent?
