“We live under the knowledge illusion because we fail to draw an accurate line between what is inside and outside our heads. And we fail because there is no sharp line. So we frequently don’t know what we don’t know.”
Steven Sloman, The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone
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National Guard Joint Operations Center
Camp Beauregard
Pineville, La.
Photo by Sgt. Noshoba Davis
10 July 2019
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Aaron slammed the phone in the cradle and immediately stood up as his adrenaline began to rush. His tone was serious yet respectful, his words were crystal as he shouted at his watch supervisor just across the isle: "Boss, we need to talk now - our helos and convoy are headed into the teeth of a threat environment!
COL Harris swiveled in his chair and locked in on Aaron. There was no mistaking his tone. Within seconds he had unplugged his headset and was moving at a crisp pace towards Aaron who was standing tall at the A&R Desk. For those who could overhear the exchange, they could sense the pulse rate of the watch floor change - in fact, this changed everything.
Their discussion was short and concise. COL Harris plugged his headset into the intercom box on the A&R Desk and pinged the Communication Desk on the opposite side of the watch floor. They had a direct-line to the Marine Forward Air Controller (FAC). COL Harris knew the two-ship formation of helos inbound to the primary Helicopter Landing Zone (HLZ) were minutes out. The young, well-trained Marine on the other end of the headset responded immediately and transmitted the order - "Bravo22...say again, Bravo22...new threat warning information just received; you are directed to divert to HLZ Cardinals at this time; further instructions to follow; how copy?" That same order ripples in seconds to the convoy and security team at HLZ Rockies.
The execution to "Plan B" was flawless, the rendezvous seamless and the evacuation went off without a hitch. The identified threat was real and dealt with using contingency resources who took care of it without incident. However, there would be questions, lots of questions to answer.
The execution to "Plan B" was flawless, the rendezvous seamless and the evacuation went off without a hitch. The identified threat was real and dealt with using contingency resources who took care of it without incident. However, there would be questions, lots of questions to answer.
Despite this story and scenario being completely fictitious, it represents a compilation of challenges many, including me, have experienced first-hand when working large, complex operations involving (1) multiple command centers; (2) numerous organizations/teams; (3) a flood of information; (4) lots of fog and ambiguity, and; (5) a fast moving, agile and unpredictable adversary.
Let me close-out this story with the key insights that came up time and again in the after action reviews. Yet, we continue to buy more and more technology to solve what are not technology challenges - they are people challenges.
Special thanks to John G, Sandia National Laboratories for his outstanding efforts in capturing and documenting these insights throughout the years:
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| Team of Teams Collective Mind John G., Sandia National Laboratories |
Special thanks to John G, Sandia National Laboratories for his outstanding efforts in capturing and documenting these insights throughout the years:
- Data and information are necessary / important but insufficient for understanding and action
- The ascent to understanding cannot be automated - jumping the air gap from
information to knowledge is hard mental work
Wisdom Hierarchy
John G., Sandia National Laboratories - Situational awareness is in minds not machines
- More data often does not reduce situational complexity and ambiguity
- Single-viewpoint situational awareness is necessary but insufficient in complex, adversarial contexts
- Making the knowledge leap requires human attention - which is in short supply
- Collaborative chat allows situational awareness / understanding across semi-cooperative organizations
- Cross-tribal situational awareness and understanding, created through the use of an online Human Net, can help reconcile divergent evidence into a predicative story
- The power of We can answer the timeless questions:
- Has something changed?
- What could happen next?
- Are we still prepared?
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| Human Net John G., Sandia National Laboratories |
Drop me a comment. I would love to hear your thoughts on how all of this could work in the emergency management world of wildland fires, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, etc.
Thanks!
Humbly,
Collabman
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