4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you hope to be the member of the next adminsitration, read this book...IT'S MANDATORY!, April 16, 2008
This review is from: America's Army: A Model for Interagency Effectiveness (Praeger Security International) (Hardcover)
Many readers will find the title daunting. "America's Army" in the lead is enough to frighten away most but the past and present members of the Armed Forces and the civilian aficionados of military affairs. Running away from the book would be, however, a serious blunder. Instead, attention should be focused on the second part of the title: ...a model for interagency effectiveness." Anyone interested in homeland defense, public affairs, business, homeland security, management of large organizations, or leadership should read the book, extrapolate the message, transform military acronyms into those crowding one's own discipline, and, after appropriate extrapolation and transformation, apply the lessons in operations of one's own organization.
The book, military acronyms notwithstanding (and there is a list explaining their full meaning), does not provide lofty enticements as to "what should be done." Instead, the authors analyze solutions employed by the US Army - one of the most complex organizations in the world - to address problems of interagency conflicts, and how to convert these into a productive, mission-oriented collaboration. While reading, one must constantly bear in mind the "operative" word of the title: "a model."
Bradford and Brown do not insist theirs is the only way. Instead, they present a model, a form of an already functioning prototype, that the reader is tasked to convert, modify, then use as a functional tool in the context of one's own organization, and its internal relations as well as interactions with the external world. The authors present a series of lucid and realistic solutions to the challenges posed by friction among organizations which must collaborate, but whose efficinecy of joint effort is hampered by internal and external bureaucracies, procedural inflexibility, culture, or, worst of all, ignorance.
Viewed in such context,the Army serves as s a pretext that merely demonstrates that the methods and approaches discussed by the authors actually work in real life. This is not a wishful "how-to" of many business or leadership texts, but the analysis of a practical application of hard-won lessons: the reader must translate "soldier" into employee, "brigade into a production division, and Army into a global-reach company. The authors could as well speak of GLOBAL OPERATIONS, Inc., with the headquarters in New York or a major NGO operating in the too often argumentative environment of disaster-relief operations. Or the Department of Homeland Security, which, despite billions of dollars spent, continues to be affected by friction among its own components, and by the bureaucratic reluctance of other depratments to offer full collaboration that is frequently critical to the implementation of effective homeland security/defense measures. This is, in fact, the book that outlines in a substantial and convincing detail a highly practical approach whose execution will prevent the embarrassment of managerial and leadership failures that accompanied the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It is, actually, the book whose efficinet perusal may be of assistance in the UN efforts to address the humanitarian disaster of Darfur.
Frankly, "American Army..." is not about the Army, even if the latter serves as its chief practical substrate. It is about learning organizations, about organizations that use knowledge management in their daily operations, it is about organizations working in unpredictably changing environments. It is also about changing demoralizing conflict into effective collaboration. The message the authors convey aims at all of us, whether civilian or military, who work in small and vast organizations consisting of several interacting groups or agencies. Importantly, despite "American Army..." in the title, the book serves equally well the American and the international readers - the essence of the "model" offered by Bradford and Brown transcedents the barriers of nationality and culture.
For those disliking "subjects military" the price of overcoming the initial reluctance, and of looking beyond Army's terminology and acronyms is very small in comparison to the "lessons learned" that emerge from reading the book. Bradford and Brown produced a "manual of operations" that is essential for most, but ideal for an open-minded reader. But, on the other hand, only such readers can manage the complexity of tasks demanded of them by the "globalized world of uncertainty." It is, indeed, a most recommended book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must Read for Interested in National Security, April 18, 2008
This review is from: America's Army: A Model for Interagency Effectiveness (Praeger Security International) (Hardcover)
Brown and Bradford have provided an invaluable service to Americans interested in our country's national security! They have done a thoughtful, insightful analysis of just where the centerpiece of America's security, our Army, stands in 2008 and where it can go in the immediate future to continue to provice the bulwark against threats, foreigh and domestic. These brilliant scholars of national security point out that the nation now faces a challenge unlike any before in our history....an international landscape altered beyond recognition.
This book provides, perhaps for the first time, a detailed critique of how public-service agencies in this country interact with the Army using the badly flawed response to Hurricane Katrina as a case study. More importantly, they then describe how they should act in future domestic crises.
It lays out the vast array of challenges to the Army of today and just exactly how the Army can work its way forward. It does not minimize the dimension of the challenges but carefully lays out a plan to cope and how to provide the country with the Army is deserves.
It is truly a must read......I sincerely hope our elected officials and their staffs find the time to read it...and think about its implications.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
