As the ability of organizations to process information accelerates, and technological advances facilitate ever more rapid decision-making, organizational leaders sacrifice the time once available for careful reflection on the nature of problems and potential resolutions. The phenomenon of globalization-the virtual, constant and borderless interaction between individuals, ideas, institutions and governments-is reinforcing the notion that such a sacrifice of time is both necessary and unavoidable. But the very notion that the critical emphasis should be placed on the time available to reflect on an issue assumes (1) that the clock starts running at the point the issue is identified, and (2) that time itself is the critical factor. These assumptions limit a leader's ability to focus his organization to accomplish its purpose. Leaders universally prize innovation because they view it as essential to achieving the best possible result most quickly. The quest for organizational efficiency invariably follows the predictable path of shortening the time required to produce creative solutions, and is heavily oriented on process. This monograph seeks to provide the organizational leader with an alternative method of considering the efficiency of his organization. While theories related to leadership and organizational management abound, and some are quite useful, their focus tends to be narrow and often limited to a specific organizational type or circumstance. The model developed avoids dependence on theory. Inspiration instead stemmed from author's 25 years of experience in, interaction with, and empirical observation of military and nonmilitary organizations, to include a decade on the Army Staff in the National Guard Bureau. The model uses historical examples and the author's experiences to explain concepts, and explains a way of viewing efficiency broadly applicable to all types and levels of organizations derived from an American cultural context. Critical aspects of the model are the distinction between the efficiency of organizational purpose and the efficiency of organizational action in achieving purpose; the episodic nature of organizational action as defined by the occurrence of conditions compelling response; and the impact of leader relationships on organizational efficiency. Active management of organizational design reveals valuable insights, particularly concerning inter-organizational cooperation (the elusive 'interagency process') and in organizational innovation. Breaking the 'time barrier' mentioned above, it is apparent that instead of applying a process of innovation at the point of need, organizational efficiency demands that the conditions for innovation be set well before problem recognition occurs. What makes the model simple is that it requires no external agent or theory to implement. The sole requirement is for the organizational leader to pause and carefully reflect on what his purpose is-and to design, or redesign, elements of his organization accordingly. While intended to be of broad utility, the monograph seeks especially to influence thinking about organizational design in the Department of Defense and the National Guard Bureau, the organizations with which the author is most directly connected.

Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)