“The quality of a decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.” – Sun Tzu
Regardless of the sector, organization, or enterprise, operating environments are never static or fully under our control. This is due to internal dynamics and external factors that are constantly in a state of flux. Their effects may be benign or non-threatening – or may just as easily be dangerous or even existential.
That is why a key component of good organizational leadership is the ability to scan the environmental horizon for emerging threats and opportunities within an organization’s areas of influence and interest. However, the more complex that environment, the more challenging it is to read, assess, and to predict how and why it may be changing.
The employment of organizational intelligence can help inform the decision-making process that is so necessary to determining what advantageous action an organization should pursue in response to, or in anticipation of, the shifting environment.
Effective decision-making depends upon two symbiotic elements – the essential availability of good intelligence (i.e., accurate, timely and predictive), and how well its appropriate use is understood by competent decision-makers. Intelligence is a potential enabler, used by belligerents to gain advantage over adversaries in any clash of wills occurring throughout a range of adversarial arenas, from sports, through competitive businesses, to warfare.
If heeded and applied judiciously, good intelligence will increase the likelihood of effective decision-making, while poor intelligence can potentially lead the decision-maker astray, no matter how competent the decision-maker or how willing and able (s)he is to make use of the intelligence at hand (think garbage-in-garbage-out). Alternatively, even the best of intelligence will be ineffective if ignored or used inappropriately by a decision-maker.
Within the military, I was occasionally the primary client of intelligence products at operational and tactical levels, both domestically and internationally. Unfortunately, I sometimes found the quality of those intelligence products to be underwhelming. Although mostly accurate and timely, rarely were they predictive. They often provided an accumulation of facts and data, useful in increasing my situational awareness, but ineffectual at enhancing my understanding, and entirely devoid of predictions concerning my adversaries’ likely courses of action. Without good intelligence to inform my decision-making processes, rarely was I able to achieve the most optimal outcomes.
Conclusion
Although the availability and use of good intelligence by competent decision-makers does not always guarantee successful outcomes, it certainly increases the likelihood of organizational success by reducing inherent environmental uncertainties and enabling decision-making that is better informed.
Achievement of positive outcomes for organizations is more likely when decisions are well-informed by good intelligence and taken by competent decision-makers who possess the understanding and ability to situate intelligence appropriately within the decision-making process. The potential for improved organizational strengths includes an enhanced capability to deter, deflect or combat threats, and to seize, embrace, and exploit opportunities.
About the Author
Greg Mitchell is a retired Canadian Army Brigadier-General currently residing in Kingston, ON. He can be reached at GregoryMitchell610@gmail.com
