Establishing Doctrine
The Purpose and Intent
Of
Principles-Driven Decision Making
End State
To create an organization guided by well stated
doctrinal principles, which represent the reality
of the work, the environment, and the mission.
They are understood and meaningful to every
employee and the public at large, and are the
heart of safe and effective mission
accomplishment
“I am therefore committing us to move toward a point where we anchor our
actions and decisions to a well-understood doctrine.”
Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth, January 26, 2006
2
Why Establish Doctrine?
• Organizational decisions, responses, and
contributions must be consistent and responsive
to the time, the environment, and the mission
– When anchored to foundational and operational
principles:
• they are freed of the burden of individual bias
• impervious to the dominant personality
• resistant to the quick fix
3
Why Establish Doctrine?
• Without the solid anchor provided by doctrine:
– performance expectations and accountability are ruledefined
– “success” and “failure” are measured by the absence
or occurrence of bad outcomes
– personal performance is gauged by one’s adherence
to or deviation from rules rather than by the
appropriateness of the behaviors and judgment used
to accomplish the task
– improper behaviors, poor judgment, or the lack of
critical decision-making skills are seldom evaluated,
and may go unnoticed until they result in a bad
outcome
4
What is Doctrine?
What does it do?
• Doctrine Guides How we Think
– Doctrine is a body of fundamental principles
evolved from laws, culture, history, and
precedence that guides the actions of an
organization
– It is authoritative but requires judgment in
application
5
What is Doctrine?
What does it do?
– Doctrine is taught as “right” behavior… it is
mandatory behavior rather than method
– It smoothes the path from idea to action
6
How is Doctrine Different From
Rules?
• Rules Tell Us What To Do
– They cover those things that senior leadership
identifies as too important to leave to
judgment
– Rules neither require, nor do they benefit
from interpretation or discretion
7
What about Policy?
• Policy can be viewed as that combination of
principles (doctrine) and rules that guides the
fundamental practices and behaviors of the
organization and it’s members
8
How is Doctrine Applied?
• Organization Wide – Principles that
necessarily apply to all employees and
activities
• Staff Area – Principles applying to the staff
area and program in general
• Mission Area – Principles specific to the
mission within the staff area
9
Are there Different Kinds of
Doctrine?
• Foundational Doctrine - applies to the overall mission of
the organization. It is dynamic and responsive to the
mandate of the organization and the times in which it is
carried out
• Operational Doctrine – is built upon Foundational
Doctrine. It provides guidance for dealing with the
dynamic parts of the mission that rely on interpretation,
judgment, and agility, and is specifically responsive to
the requirements of the mission and the environment in
which it is performed. A component of “Joint Doctrine”,
which guides inter-organizational actions toward
accomplishment of the same mission
10
Are there Different Areas of
Doctrine?
• The Operational Environment – The realities of the world
in which the mission is to be accomplished
• The Mission – The purpose and need for the organization
and the activity
• Roles and Relationships – Performance expectations and
behavioral principles
• Leadership and Accountability – Expectations and
measures of performance for leaders at all levels
• Operations – Principles that guide actions taken to
accomplish the mission
• Risk Management – The purpose, need, and emphasis to
manage risks associated with the mission environment
… and other areas as needed
11
How will Doctrine Help us
Accomplish our Mission?
• Doctrine relies upon, and requires
Doctrine
initiative
thatisisauthoritative,
concentric withbut
the not
overly
restrictive…
fundamental
purpose
of the organization.
“…it’s not a code of standardized
procedures but a creative process”
12
How will Doctrine Help us
Accomplish our Mission?
• Doctrine serves to focus the friction (and related
decisions) between theory and practice,
between
real guides
and idealized
mechanical
Doctrine
proper
action and
processes. “This
[doctrine]
will serve both as
decision
making...
support to their judgment and a barrier against
those extravagant and erroneous views which
are so especially to be dreaded in a sphere
where experience is so costly”
13
How will Doctrine Help us
Accomplish our Mission?
• Because of the difference between what was
anticipated and what turns out to be the on-theground reality, we can only hope to create the
“70%
solution”.
To invest
more
time
trying to
Doctrine
bridges
the
gap
between
develop
a perfect
plan
causes
a loss ofof the
the
plan
and
the
execution
momentum and opportunity. Operating in an
plan
in
a
dynamic
environment...
environment guided by clear and understood
doctrine, the last 30% of the plan is placed into
the hands of the subordinates, who are
expected to exercise initiative to achieve the
leader’s intent
14
How will Doctrine Help us
Accomplish our Mission?
• An organization guided by well understood and
shared doctrine exhibits a workforce with well
developed character and initiative, a workforce
Doctrine
requires
workforce
that has good understanding of the mission of
attributes
that
make
the
the organization
and the
intent
of its
leadership.
organization
errorjudgment
resistant
It relies
on sharply honed
andand
decision-making skills
efficient…
15
How will Doctrine Affect
Employees?
• Doctrinal principles guide decisions and
behaviors regardless of the task or the
environment, yet require discretion in their
application. Every employee will therefore be
required to think
• In order to realize the benefits of principles-
based performance, the organization will need to
retool its training and education of employees.
An escalated focus on leadership and decisionmaking, equal to or exceeding the emphasis on
skills training, is paramount
16
How will Doctrine Affect
Employees?
• A more visible and objective system of
•
evaluation and certification will be required.
Real time evaluation of performance and
decision making will replace the current
tendency to review performance after bad
outcomes
Performance evaluation will be based on the
quality of decisions in context with principles,
the mission, leader intent, and environment, and
not solely on adherence to the letter of rules
17
How will Doctrine Affect
Employees?
• Personnel will be certified as having
•
•
demonstrated clear leadership qualities prior to
being placed in leadership positions
Discretion will be given to the level the
employee is capable to exercise it within
doctrine-define boundaries
Rules will be limited to those things that senior
leadership believes are too important to leave to
discretion. There will be a sliding scale of
discretion vs. rules in view of experience and
capability
18
How will Doctrine Affect
Employees?
• Decisions can be made in context with the
•
•
reality of the situation, leader’s intent, and
guiding principles. There will be no cookiecutter approach to decision-making
Decisions are constrained by doctrinal principles
and leader intent, in combination with rules that
require no discretion
All actions, decisions, allocations, priorities,
plans, and communications are based upon
fundamental principles tied directly to the
organization’s purpose
19
How will Doctrine Affect
Employees?
• Ambiguities in decision-making are eliminated as
•
the work environment and the job are seen in a
clearer context
Personal character, heart, will, integrity, and
honor are all important within a principles-based
culture
20
How will Doctrine Affect
Employees?
• Reward is directly related to actions and
•
•
behaviors, and not solely to outcomes
Consequences accrue to behaviors and actions,
and not solely to outcomes
Good and bad outcomes are evaluated against
actions and behaviors, and individual adherence
to a clearer and more meaningful set of rules
21
In Summary
• Through the illumination of clear, shared, and
unambiguous doctrine:
– decisions and actions will be connected with the
overall mission, and will contribute to organizational
integration and coordination
– communication will be consistent and comprehensive,
and multiple interpretations of purposes, needs, and
desired outcomes will be eliminated
– the value of policy to accomplish the mission will be
enhanced. Policy, when developed as a combination
of guiding principles and critical rules, will serve to
define the context of decision-making rather than
confine the decision-maker
22
In Summary
• Through the illumination of clear, shared, and
unambiguous doctrine:
– decision authority, responsibility, and freedom to act
will be precisely defined
– the foundation upon which the organization
establishes consistency in its response to criticism,
arbitration, and litigation will be well established
– employees and leaders alike will be provided with an
unambiguous means to evaluate risk vs. gain; to
avoid both risk aversion and recklessness
23