Organizational Leadership

WHITE PAPER

ON

LEADERSHIP PLAN

Flight # , 2023

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so we can avoid falling into traps like the group-think effect with a diverse group. This effect is when a group of people start to act in a collective way to preserve harmony and avoid conflict. With a diverse group from various backgrounds, bases and units, we can help avoid this trap.

Influence operations have been a part of war for centuries, but social media and mass communications have only existed for a handful of years. This means we have to adapt quickly to the changes in the information domain to operate in it effectively. But, unfortunately, what was once a fun pastime to share photos with our families has become a breeding ground for hate, disinformation, and influence operations for our adversaries. This is when system-one thinking comes into play.

System one thinking is intuitive or instinctive thinking, where decisions are made without consciously considering other alternatives. But we need our Airmen to use System-two Thinking. System-two thinking is more deliberative, analytical, and conscious. It takes more effort and is slower than System one thinking. System-two thinking slows us down, makes us ask deliberate questions, and thinks purposely about our actions and words.8 Encouraging our Airmen and leaders within to use System-two thinking; we will develop critical thinkers. Our Airmen must be critical thinkers because disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda are prevalent throughout the information environment.

We will need our Airmen to develop the skills to identify scenarios in real-time and then develop solutions to combat them in near real-time. We will develop critical thinkers with the use of the Socratic Method. The Socratic Method is a form of questioning to promote critical thinking and draws out ideas and underlying presumptions. This method is a way for problem solvers to break their problem down into a series of questions to deeply analyze the issue by stripping away any assumptions and contradictions in the process.5

Innovation and Creative Thinking Powered by Ethical Decision-Making and Resiliency

We can't continue doing things the way we've always done in . We need a new way of thinking and framework for conducting information warfare operations as We need innovation, and we need solutions. We will use the Five Stages of Design Thinking, which include empathizing, defining, ideating, prototyping, and testing.4 As we go through this process, we will gain an empathic understanding of the problem and empathize with our Airmen and leaders in the field. Every office has unique challenges, and we must be mindful of this as we move forward with change. We have already defined the challenge, so I would like to submit a proposal to work with AFWERX to help us design, develop and test software to help our career field use advanced technology, such as artificial intelligence, to help us maneuver in the information more efficiently. This would cover the ideate, prototype, and test phases of design thinking.

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As we build artificial intelligence into operations, ethics will be paramount. Using the ethical decision-making framework, we can help develop technology that does not violate our personal or shared values. For example, we will face ethical dilemmas such as "how much information can we collect on military members with the intent to keep them safe?" The answer to this question is unclear, posing a "community vs. individual ethical dilemma."9 By identifying the dilemma, determining possible solutions, and then examining those solutions, we can make a choice and then implement that choice with confidence.

Once we develop and test new technology that is when we will inform our career-field leaders, as well as our Department of the Air Force leaders of our plan to implement our information warfare plan. To ensure the career field remains healthy enough to dedicate resources in the future, we will also focus on resiliency amongst our teams.

While we promote innovation and implement major changes, we will simultaneously promote psychologically safe environments to develop trust and promote a strong feedback culture.3 To create psychological safety in our organization, we will:

1. Promote self-awareness 2. Demonstrate concern for team members as people 3. Actively Solicit questions 4. Provide multiple ways for employees to share their thoughts 5. Show value and appreciation for ideas. 6. Promote positive dialogue and discussion. 7. Be precise with information, expectations, and commitments. 8. Explain reasons for change 9. Own up to mistakes

We will also conduct formal and informal assessments of our organization to gauge the

culture, climate, and resiliency of our teammates. Formally we can conduct a Defense Organizational Climate Survey at a specified milestone in this project. Informally, we will hold frequent meetings with small groups to check in and give opportunities for our teams to provide candid feedback.

Conclusion

Information warfare is here to stay, and our adversaries are growing increasingly sophisticated in the information domain. It is time we spend real time and real money on our capabilities in the Air Force. I have laid out a detailed plan on what we need to change as a career field and given examples of how we can effectively reach this goal. Through Red Teaming, critical and creative thinking, diversity and inclusion, ethical decision-making, and resiliency, I know we can reach our goal of shifting the

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Bibliography

1. Air Force Instruction (AFI) 35-101. Public Affairs Operations, 20 November 2020. 2. Bass, JoAnn S. “A New Kind of War.” Æther: A Journal of Strategic Airpower &

Spacepower Vol. 1, no. 1 (April 2022): 13–16. 3. Bosler, Shana. “9 Strategies to Create Psychological Safety at Work.”

Quantumworkplace.com. Quantum workplace, July 13, 2021. 4. Dam, Rikke Friis. “The 5 Stages in the Design Thinking Process.” The Interaction Design

Foundation. Interaction Design Foundation, August 12, 2022. 5. Leon, Charles. “Six Socratic Questions for Critical Thinking Charles Leon.” Charles

Leon, March 9, 2021. 6. Leading Effectively Staff. “How to Lead through a Crisis.” Center For Creative

Leadership, December 15, 2020. 7. Prier, Jarred. “Commanding the Trend: Social Media as Information Warfare.” Strategic

Studies Quarterly 11, no. 4 (2017): 50–85. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26271634. 8. Shleifer, Andrei. “Psychologists at the Gate: A Review of Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking,

Fast and Slow.” Journal of Economic Literature 2012, 50(4), 1–12 50, no. 4 (November 16, 2012): 1–12.

9. James H Svara, “The Ethical Triangle: Synthesizing the Bases of Administrative Ethics,” CSG & ASPA Public Integrity Annual (1995), 38-39.