Monday  2002-08-05   Policy, Process, Mechanism

Everything's explained in SOP

In many organizations, the design process still follows a classical "military" model. A small number of "officers" do the "noble" task of analysis and design, plan the overall work load, and assign implementations and test tasks to the "simple soldiers." This way of working has several drawbacks.
...
But today, even the military no longer works like this, at least in the British SAS or American SEALS and probably other elite military forces as well. ... Most interesting to us is the account of the mission design. After being given a broad view on the mission objective [...] all eight members of the SAS patrol meet to cooperatively design the details of their mission (what, when, where, how, and with which tools). They do not start from scratch but instead identify the problems to be solved and their contexts, and then borrow and customize solutions from the Standard Operational Procedures (SOP) handbook: for example, get to this point behind enemy lines with enough food and ammunition for the mission and without anybody else being aware or have a cover story ready in case of a capture). The very same eight men then "implement" their design, being fully aware of all the implications. The bottom line of this approach is that these special forces consistently rate from five to ten times better than classical ones--and military efficiency measures, albeit somehow macabre, do exist.

[The benifits of this approach are:]

... The most striking point is the team's reliance on patterns of organization and behavior for the big picture and on SOP for the implementation details. These patterns are used as small building blocks that everyone knows and understands: The design activity can proceed at a quite high level, in terms of patterns instead of implementation details. ...

Another interesting point is that, because those who design the mission are also the ones who implement it, they tend to come up with implementable designs and realistic schedules. ...

Finally, because all of the implementers are responsible for the design, a strong team spirit is created to make the implementation possible. ...

From "Design Patterns and Contracts" by Jezequel, Train, Mingins (ISBN 0201309599)

Monday  2002-08-05   World

Will to fight

BBC and others report that "Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian has backed calls for a referendum on independence" and China's swift and stern warning against the independence. Stanley Chan argues that because US lacks the political will for the defense of Taiwan, China with its resolute aim can overrun Taiwan eventually.

However plausible this analysis may be, there are a few unasked questions:

• What about Taiwanese people's desire for self-determination? Will they fight to the bitter end? Or will they surrender to save themselves and their prosperity?
• Current US opposition to Taiwanese independence stems from its desire to maintain the status quo - will US tolerate any attempt to change it?
• In case China fails in its military or political campaign to take over Taiwan, can it handle other secessionists? "First Taiwan, then Xinjiang, then Tibet, then ..."

Monday  2002-08-05   World

Hell on earth

Pankaj Mishra explains how many factors from a millenium of Indian history have come to an eruption in Gujarat last January: up to 2000 Muslim citizens were massacred by their neighbors in a state sanctioned pogrom. It was truly hell on earth.