COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS AND THE OVERCOMING OF COMMAND-AND-CONTROL MANAGEMENT IN INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS

Abstract

Command-and-control management demands a centralized organizational structure, restricting teams’ creativity and decision power. Developed from last century’s managements frameworks, like Taylorism and Fordism, tends to be less effective in complex environments, usually featured by multiple connections between its actors, unpredictability and constant change. In these scenarios, thorough task planning is inefficient because unexpected variables change the underlying basis of the panning. Through a brief literature review, this paper intends to show management tools that break the command-and-control structure and enhance the Intelligence managerial competence. These models rely on adaptability and resilience, delivering decision power to the operational level and shifting the leadership’s role. Managers turn responsible of improving liaisons between teams, instead of planning tasks. High performance teams become the organization’s building block and operate as networks, overcoming the vertical structure.