- The Strategist - https://www.aspistrategist.org.au -
Reviewing the Department of Defence (part 2)
Posted By Graeme Dobell on November 20, 2019 @ 06:00
Putting the budget/financial situation to one side, the most significant organisational issue we face relates to leadership. Not to put too fine a point on it, too many of our people lack confidence in many of Defence’s senior leaders. Justified or not, Defence’s leadership is seen as lacking coherence, as failing to accept responsibility and as reactive. Issues such as visibility and caring arise.
Far too often, it seems that wherever one sits in the hierarchy, all the problems besetting the organisation in terms of its management and leadership come from higher up the ladder.
The reality today … is that there is widespread dissatisfaction with Defence’s performance in Canberra—from ministers, central agencies within the public service, industry, and even from within the Defence organisation itself. In essence, we have a credibility problem.
One organisational reform which might make a real difference is a savage cut to the size of the civilian and military staffs in defence headquarters on Russell Hill ... [W]e would get better decisions faster if a lot fewer people were involved. The big benefit here is not that we need fewer people on the payroll; it’s that we get better decisions about big strategic questions.
– What changes we need to make to our strategy;
– What changes we need to make to our capability [although Reynolds also said, ‘I do not envisage any changes to our major capability programs’]; and
– [H]ow we transform Defence into an organisation that can deliver on the national tasks for the decades ahead.
Article printed from The Strategist: https://www.aspistrategist.org.au
URL to article: https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/reviewing-the-department-of-defence-part-2/
[1] a culture of learned helplessness: https://www.defence.gov.au/adc/adfj/Documents/issue_141/141_2000_Mar_Apr.pdf
[2] big beast: https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/reviewing-the-department-of-defence-part-1/
[3] How to defend Australia: https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/how-defend-australia
[4] C. Northcote Parkinson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Northcote_Parkinson
[5] two sublaws: https://www.economist.com/news/1955/11/19/parkinsons-law#footnote1
[6] triviality: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_triviality
[7] changes in the global environment: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australia-facing-most-significant-global-changes-since-wwii-dfat-warns-ministers-20191112-p539ud.html
[8] another review: https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/defences-strategic-reassessment-squaring-the-circle-with-tied-hands/
[9] Defence Minister Linda Reynolds: https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/minister/lreynolds/speeches/royal-australian-navy-sea-power-conference-international-convention
[10] first principles review: https://www.defence.gov.au/Publications/Reviews/Firstprinciples/