What is one of the key problems that cripples almost every organization?
The bright pulsating flare shot into the night sky and instantly stripped the terrified soldiers of their cover in the darkness. Like frenzied rats, the platoon of soldiers scurried manically through the maze of toppled stone buildings in the midst of a decimated city.
Bullets rained down upon them. The barrage of gunfire momentarily paused when the flare fizzled out. Only then, did the thick veil of darkness blanket the battlefield once again.
“Psssssshhhhhh…”
“Would you turn off that bloody radio!” hissed one of the soldiers hysterically. “You are going to give away our position!”
“Not a fat chance, Bradley!” barked the signalman as he tightened the straps that secured the big bulky radio to his back. “How will we know where the enemy is? How will we know when the next air raid is coming?”
“Psshhh….” the static of the radio continued to violate the silence of the night.
“What good is all that intel, if we are all dead?” sneered the soldier as he aggressively shoved the combat signaler to the ground.
But before the astonished signaler could retaliate, another blinding white flare was fired high into the sky. Once again the worn-out platoon was scrambling to find some resemblance of cover from relentless hail of machine gun fire.
Hours later, the rag tag group of men finally found a secure location to hide and rest in. But just as Bradley was about to surrender to the blissful embrace of sleep, he was abruptly slapped awake by the irritating buzz of intermittent radio chatter.
In a blinding fit of rage, he stormed over to flick off the radio and spat spitefully in the direction of the sleeping signaler.
Even though he was the last to drift fretfully back to sleep, he -as well as the rest of the platoon- was eventually awoken with rifles pointed intimidatingly in each of their faces.
The free flow of information is not just important in war, but it is critical in leading every organization. For the more information each team receives, the more choices are made available for them to respond. But when information is dialed down or even switched off, everyone is immobilized and is at the mercy of whatever happens next.
