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Beyond Goldwater-Nichols -- Legislation in Response to

Strategic Security

James R. Locher III

October 16, 2002

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More Than an Intellectual Challenge

Reformers have the idea that change can be achieved by brute sanity.

-- George Bernard Shaw

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National Security Council

• problem: still defined by post-World War II concept of national security – diplomacy, military, and intelligence

• four statutory members– president, vice president, secretary of state, secretary of

defense

• two statutory advisers– chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, director of central

intelligence

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All Instruments of U.S. Power

“How will we fight and win this war? We will direct every resource at our command -- every means of diplomacy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement, every financial influence, and every necessary weapon of war -- to the disruption and to the defeat of the global terror network.”

President George W. Bush, Address to Congress, September 20, 2001

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National Security Council

• by statute, add three new members– Secretary of the Treasury– Attorney General – Secretary of Homeland Security

• highlight their national security responsibilities

• begin changes to culture

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Combating Terrorism

• problem: combating terrorism is now bifurcated• National Security Council

– counterterrorism -- overseas and domestic

– intelligence support for counterterrorism

– antiterrorism -- overseas

– consequence management -- overseas

• Homeland Security Council– antiterrorism -- domestic

– consequence management -- domestic

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Combating Terrorism

• second problem: unnecessary duplication– Department of Homeland Security and Office

of Homeland Security

• course of action– add Secretary of Homeland Security to

National Security Council– eliminate Homeland Security Council and

Office of Homeland Security

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Interagency Reform

• poor unity of effort

• 1961 -- Joint Staff – “it has been extremely difficult to achieve coordinated

interdepartmental planning”

• 1998 -- Army Training and Doctrine Command– “the diversity of the interagency, with each agency having

its own culture, hierarchy, bias, misperceptions, and unique perspectives, makes unity of effort difficult.”

– “low technical and procedural interoperability and the absence of a common vision”

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Interagency Reform

• problem: imbalance between departmental and national interests – parallels DoD mid-1980s problems

• addressed by Goldwater-Nichols Act

• defend departmental turf– “don’t tell them anything”– “don’t let them interfere with our activities”– “don’t let them get any of our money”

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Interagency Reform

• departments have little responsibility for the performance and success of the whole

– “see it as their first job to defend their function [department], to protect it against marauders in other functions [departments], to make sure ‘it doesn’t get pushed around.’” -- Peter Drucker

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Interagency Reform

• different visions • different cultures

– exercises, contingency plans, rapid-response teams, policy planning

• no common doctrine • different terminology• incompatible systems

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Interagency Reform

• Congress will offer little legislative help– committee jurisdictions -- major obstacle

• fix will have to come from executive branch

• one possibility– interagency study chartered by president– chaired by the vice president– considerable DoD interest

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Department of Homeland Security: Out of Many, One

• 170,000 employees

• 22 agencies

• 17 different sets of procedures

• little of unifying the department will be addressed in legislation– focused on structure

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Organizational Effectiveness

• SHARED VALUES -- agreed vision, purpose, and principles

• SYSTEMS -- management processes, procedures, and measurements

• STRUCTURE -- arrangement of components

• SKILLS -- core competencies; necessary capabilities and attributes of the organization

• STAFF -- attributes of personnel; needed qualifications and professional development

• STYLE -- leadership attitudes and behavior, organization's culture

• STRATEGY -- plan for achieving objectives

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Department of Homeland Security: Out of Many, One

• shared values -- unifying vision

• systems -- designed to promote integration; emphasis on outcomes

• skills -- ability to operate cross-department

• staff -- incentives for service in other elements; education programs

• style -- culture that highly values unity of effort; high-volume communications

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Department of Defense: Change-Resistant Culture

• “Yesterday’s winning formula ossifies into today’s conventional wisdom before petrifying into tomorrow’s tablets of stone.”

• strategic vulnerability in a world of accelerating change– greatest organizational weakness

• anticipate and adapt to change• change-enabling techniques

– strategic visioning -- renewal process

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Department of Defense: 1960s Management Doctrine

• outmoded hierarchical authoritarian model

• bloated bureaucracies

• ponderous processes

• input focus

• uncertain division of labor

• inattention to civilian personnel management

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Department of Defense: Revolution in Business Affairs

Secretary of Defense Cohen (1997):

“bring to the department management techniques and business practices that have restored American corporations to leadership in the marketplace.”

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Department of Defense: Revolution in Business Affairs

– new leadership concept

– unifying vision

– core functions

– information sharing

– personnel management

– performance goals

– cross-functional process teams