Commander’s Intent: Managing Through Uncertainty

James Gwertzman, CEO

05/03/2023 2

A book review

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Sources of friction in On War

GENERIC SOURCE SPECIFIC SOURCE

Imperfect information • Uncertainties• False information• Rumors

Imperfect transmitting of information

• Making judgment based on probabilities• Stress caused by emotion, including fear• Stress caused by physical exertion• The people involved who can cause misunderstanding or delay• Differences of views, especially between leaders

External factors • Chance (e.g., weather)• Complexity (reduces chances of success through accumulating

risk)

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Friction in a workplace

CHAOTIC ENVIRONMENT

COMPLEXITY

PERSONAL INTERESTS

EMOTION & STRESS

HUMANFINITUDE

Limitedknowledge

Independent agents

Independent wills

Unpredictable events

Imperfect information

Imperfect information

transfer

Noise

Lack of data

Chance

External actorsDifferent agendas

Different priorities

Different interpretations

Misunderstandings

Source: The Art of Action

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“Everybody’s got a plan until I hit them.”

– Mike Tyson

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OUTCOMES

PLANSACTIONS

Basic elements of any business

Source: The Art of Action

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The problem: 3 critical gapsOUTCOMES

PLANSACTIONS

Knowledge gap:The difference

between what we want to know and what we actually

know.

Effects gap:The difference

between what we expect our actions

to achieve, and what they actually

achieve.

Alignment gap:The difference

between what we want people to do

and what they actually do

Source: The Art of Action

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Usual reactions…OUTCOMES

PLANSACTIONS

Knowledge gap:More detailed information

Effects gap:More detailed

controls

Alignment gap:More detailed instructions

Source: The Art of Action

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The solution: Directed opportunismOUTCOMES

PLANSACTIONS

Knowledge gap:Limit direction to

defining and communicating

the intent

Effects gap:Give individuals

freedom to adjust their actions in line with intent

Alignment gap:Allow each level to

define how they will achive the

intent of the next level up, and ‘backbrief’

Source: The Art of Action

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Commander’s Intent: Less is better

FM 100-5, 14 June 1993 states:

“The commander's intent describes the desired end state. It is a concise expression of the purpose of the operation and must be understood two echelons below the issuing commander . . . It is the single unifying focus for all subordinate elements. It is not a summary of the concept of the operation.

Its purpose is to focus subordinates on the desired end state. Its utility is to focus subordinates on what has to be accomplished in order to achieve success, even when the plan and concept of operations no longer apply, and to discipline their efforts toward that end.”

OR:

- Decide what really matters- Get the message across- Give your people space & support

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Decide what really matters: strategy

COMPETITIVE

ADVANTAGE

AimsDo we want to do this?

OpportunitiesIs it possible to do this?

CapabilitiesIs this something we can do?

Source: The Art of Action

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Get the message across: the briefing

Express your intent in terms of what to achieve and why

Grant autonomy in terms of what to do, and how to realize the intent.

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Cascading intent: each level is more specific

LEVEL 1

LEVEL 2

LEVEL 3

Intent(What & why)

Intent(What & why)

Intent(What & why)

Tasks(How)

Tasks(How)

‘backbrief’

‘backbrief’

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The back brief…

• Team/person being briefed checks understanding of the direction• Superiors gains clarification about

the implications of their own directions (may need to revise as a result)• Ensures alignment across the

organization (esp. if everyone back briefs together)• Results checked for gaps, overlaps,

and coherence• Adjustment follows… FM 3-19.4 Appendix C (Back Brief Number 2)

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Commander’s Intent Example

UNMIH INTENT: “The purpose of this mission is to maintain a secure and stable environment which allows the government of Haiti to maintain functional governance, gradually transferring responsibility for the secure and stable environment to the government of Haiti. The end state is defined as the secure and stable environment that allows social and economic development, free election, and peaceful transition of responsibility to the government of Haiti.”

USFORHAITI INTENT: “The purpose of the operation is to divest Zone V of all operations in support of the government of Haiti. We will accomplish this purpose through progressively transferring all support operations to the government of Haiti, setting time limits on continued support to encourage timely transfers. Maintain only enough presence to detect an impending loss of security or stability in sufficient time to counteract it. At the end of the operation the government of Haiti assumes all responsibility for maintaining the secure and stable environment. Zone V forces are postured to facilitate and cover the withdrawal of UN forces and protect key installations.”

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Commander’s Intent Example

TASK FORCE BAYANIHAN COMMANDER’S MISSION STATEMENT: “Assist the Disaster Response Task Groups (DRTGs) in Visayas and Mindanao in the conduct of large scale humanitarian assistance and disaster response in regions 6,7,10 and 13, in order to save lives, protect property and minimize damage.”

TF BAYANIHAN COMMANDER’S INTENT:“My intent is to support the Armed Forces of the Philippines in HA/DR operations in the affected areas of the Central Philippines. We will conduct HA/DR combined operations and rehabilitation efforts. In other words, we will provide all available assistance to alleviate human suffering and restore normalcy.”

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Mission Statement as CI?

“I can teach you the secret to running this airline in thirty seconds. This is it: We are the low cost airline. Once you understand that fact, you can make any decision about this company’s future as well as I can.”

– Herb Kelleher, CEO Southwest Airlines

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Tips on writing a good intent

• The CI never specifies so much detail that it risks being rendered obsolete by unpredictable events.

• Commander’s Intent manages to align the behavior of soldiers at all levels without requiring play-by-play instructions from their leaders. When people know the desired intention, they’re free to improvise, as needed, in arriving there.

• A commander could spend a lot of time enumerating every specific task, but as soon as people know what the intent is they begin generating their own solutions.

Source: Made to Stick, by Chip and Dan Heath

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Keep it short, to the point, yet with enough information that subordinates can take it and run when things get confused. 

Makes sense?

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Considerations of METT-T

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Strategy briefing template

• CONTEXT – what is the situation?• HIGHER INTENT – one level up, two levels up• MY INTENT – what are we trying to achieve and why?• MEASURES – how do we know if we succeeded?• IMPLIED TASKS, RESPONSIBILITY, TIMING• What is the main effort?

• BOUNDARIES – freedoms & constraints

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Let’s try it out!

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Lesson Learned: Understand intent

Problem: • Lengthy business directions

often focus on items that are beyond the current scope

• Intent should complement what your team needs to know and focus on key elements

Techniques:• Make sure you derive the single

most important thing you need to have done during the business evolution (current operation) and make this the focal point of your intent

• Have your team take the time to understand your intent

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Lesson Learned: Achieve focus

Problem:• Lengthy and vague intent

statements make it difficult to focus on what is important

Technique:Complete the following sentences: • If we do nothing during

tomorrow’s mission, we must __________________________.

• The single, most important thing we must do tomorrow, is __________________________.

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Lesson Learned: Make your statements conciseProblem: • Lengthy convoluted intent

statements are often due to conflicting and divergent assignment missions

Techniques:• Ask the simple question: What

is the single most important thing to accomplish during this operation?

• If you give people multiple missions, then help them prioritize them to succeed

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A framework for operations

Remember: • An intent statement provides a

framework for the operation. It doesn’t tell your staff what to do. If gives them the overall picture of what you say the company needs to accomplish to be successful.

• By making your intent a clear and concise focused statement, you increase the chance that you staff will continue the mission even when the operation doesn’t go as planned.

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• When you communicate the core concept to your staff the probability of success increases

• As a leader when you are vague or fail to communicate the core idea to your staff failure is inevitable

Can you explain it to your grandmother?

THANK YOU.