Representative Holmes on the Mission Orders' of Responsible Restart Ohio
As Ohio begins the Responsible Restart Ohio economic recovery plan, it is worth noting that along with Operational Risk Management (ORM), Responsible Restart Ohio’s construct resembles another proven US military organizational leadership concept. "Mission Orders" is a US military term that describes a method senior leaders use to direct coordinated action in large organizations. Mission Orders' doctrine provides a formal structure to support large organizational strategic action in complex situations, very much like Ohio during our COVID-19 recovery period.
CONCEPTS
Mission Orders emphasize that high-level leaders' focus on strategic end states and leadership intent for action while delegating the actual implementation of orders to the lowest levels of the organization.
• Mission Orders require senior leaders to provide guidance simply and clearly with an active intent to avoid micromanagement. Over-centralization slows action, reduces momentum, and leads to imperfect actions in support of the desired organizational end state. As we will see, effective COVID-19 “hotspot” responses this year will need to be rapid.
• Conversely, the lower levels of the organization need to be given as large a degree of autonomy as possible. Environmental conditions in large organizations can be very diverse and complex. Lower level leaders are responsible for understanding senior level intent and implementing procedures that best support organizational strategy in the local environmental conditions. Lower level leaders need to be given substantial decision-making autonomy, as they will have the best situational awareness to make tailored decisions that best support overall strategic intent. Ohio’s COVID-19 defenses must be flexible and precise.
MISSION ORDERS GUIDING PRINCIPLES
• Build cohesive teams through mutual trust
• Create shared understanding
• Provide clear senior leadership intent
• Exercise disciplined initiative
• Accept prudent risk
SUMMARY
Ohio's strategic challenge over the coming months will be in determining the balance between state-level control and local autonomy during Responsible Restart Ohio execution. The balance will change over time. As the complexity of our response environment grows, we will have to increase the amount of authority we delegate to lower levels. As State Health Director Dr. Acton has suggested, our most effective tools in fighting COVID-19 will gradually move from the state level “hammers” to local area “scalpels”. Coordinated, cooperative action will be key to successful COVID-19 prevention.
Most importantly we must remember that the winning response plan depends on recognizing that citizens are the true senior authorities who ultimately determine our strategic approach to executing Ohio's economic recovery. We are in this together; and we will prevail.
OHIO STRONG
Sincerely,
State Representative Adam Holmes (97th District)
Ohio 2020 Economic Recovery Task Force (OHERTF)
Office: (614) 644-6014
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Representative Adam Holmes (OH-97)
614-644-6014