Designing the Best Team for the Task by rita June 2001 Rating: G Disclaimer: I don't own them. Feedback: mommacita1@juno.com This isn't either slash or adult in nature, no angst or torture either, but I hope you'll enjoy it nonetheless. Please let me know what you think. Thanks muchly to Val for beta-ing. Tigh marched into Adama's office without requesting permission to enter. That alone alerted the Commander that something was amiss. He looked closely at his second in command and dearest friend. Tigh's normally stolid expression was gone. In its place was something that warred between outrage and amusement, the latter an expression only the Commander, of those still alive, had ever seen on the Colonel's face, and that not recently. "What is it, Tigh?" Adama asked, setting his stylus aside. "I think you'd better read this," Tigh said peremptorily. "Sounds innocuous enough," Adama commented after scanning the title. It read, "Designing the Best Team for the Task: Optimal Organizational Structures for Military Missions". "Who posted it?" "It appeared suddenly and anonymously on the Command Discussions list," Tigh replied. "Even Omega's given up on tracing it. Read it." Adama read: It has come to the attention of the writer of this discussion, that the method for selecting team members to serve on military missions that do not involve an entire squadron may best be described as haphazard and subjective. Let us take several recent cases where teams were selected to serve on urgent and unforeseen missions and analyze the composition of the team in each case: Case A: Mission to investigate intermittent long-range anomaly. The team selected consisted of the Strike Captain and a cadet whose training was incomplete and who had a significant long-term relationship with the Strike Captain. To be completely accurate, Colonel Tigh initially misassigned the team - actually, he made what this author considers the *correct* assignment, but more on that later in this discussion - then reassigned them based on the new roster, which included the inexperienced cadets. As a result, the originally assigned experienced warrior, who felt it his duty to ensure the safety of the Fleet by seeing to it that the most experienced warriors available comprised the mission team, was captured by the Cylons and presumed dead. A further, indirect result of this teaming was the false sense of confidence it instilled in the cadet, which contributed to her death on the planet Kobol. Case B: Mission to destroy Cylon supply depot. The team selected consisted of three Galactica viper pilots, two Pegasus viper pilots. At the last micron, and with no authorization, a civilian medtech joined the team as well. This was strictly a politically designed team (even including the medtech into the analysis), with two groups of warriors who were neither familiar with each other's strategies nor in philosophical agreement on the actions and motives of their respective Commanders. As a result, one of the Pegasus warriors was severely injured and the other, along with one of the Galactica warriors and the medtech, sufficiently distracted by the injured pilot that the entire mission was left in the hands of the remaining two Galactica pilots. Case C: Mission to obtain new food-producing seeds on planet of unknown alliance. The team selected included an older, civilian Siress, for political reasons; the Commander of the Fleet who had an ongoing social relationship with the Siress; the son of the Strike Captain, and his pet (android) daggit, who had already demonstrated both a propensity for inappropriate noisemaking and a tendency to run away despite firm orders to the contrary (this applies to both child and android); in addition to the Strike Captain and two warriors. As a result, the Siress was kidnapped and her virtue, if not her life, endangered, and one of the warriors was nearly permanently indentured as chief military officer on the planet, this latter due to the Strike Captain's understandable distraction by his son and the Commander's equally understandable distraction by the Siress.It was due to Starbuck's inability to stay out of trouble! Case D: Mission to destroy a laser weapon on an ice planet. The team selected consisted of a group of military prisoners who had previously constituted a Colonial Warrior squadron specializing in demolition, but had gone renegade; the Galactica Strike Captain, three warriors experienced with ice planets; and another warrior with no documented experience with either demolitions or ice planets. By unknown means, the Strike Captain's son and his pet daggit also became members of the team. As a result of the antagonistic nature of the relationships among the prisoners and between the group of prisoners and the Galactica warriors, one Galactica warrior was killed, four of the five prisoners died, and the entire mission was jeopardized. The mission was successfully concluded, and a Galactica cadet who had been taken prisoner liberated, by the Strike Captain, the former squadron Commander, and the warrior inexperienced in demolitions and ice planets. Given that an optimal team should have the required skill sets for the mission and, for most military missions, team numbers should be kept to a minimum, it would appear to this author that team members would best be selected based on their skill sets and not on political, social, or even organizational structures and relationships. With this goal in mind, let us reexamine the criteria for selecting the team members in Cases A - D, above. Case A. We can safely say that extenuating circumstances caused the early promotion of untried cadets into active duty as viper pilots. However, at the time of the mission under discussion, there was no general alarm. Since two experienced warriors with the appropriate skill sets for detecting and resolving anomalies were available for the mission, they should have been selected, regardless of the organizational roster's pairing of experienced pilots with cadets. Had this occurred, as was Colonel Tigh's original intention, it can be argued that the mission would have succeeded without the loss, however temporary, of one of the two remaining experienced warriors. Case B. Setting aside the question of whether or not the mission itself was either appropriate or valid, its very nature dictated a closely-knit team, one that could easily function together inside enemy lines with little or no discussion. Either the Galactica team or the Pegasus team would have been appropriate, but including both as a political gesture nearly doomed the mission from the outset. The rivalry between the two groups had already reached violent proportions at the time of the mission, and might well have turned lethal had not the common enemy appeared. Even had there not been dissension between the two groups, they were unfamiliar with each other's techniques and areas of expertise. This led to confusion and delay in determining the role each team member was to play on the mission. The inclusion of the medtech, who was at the center of a complex set of relationships among the team members, further distracted team members from performing their mission. The mission, in fact, was performed by two Galactica team members acting seamlessly together from long experience with each other's methods, strengths, and weaknesses. Case C. During the time since this Fleet came together and began the journey to find the Thirteenth Tribe and Earth, the entire Fleet has been under military control. This author is, therefore, at somewhat of a loss to explain the methods used to procure the trading material for this mission. Simple requisition of the required item was mandated by the Council's having confirmed military rule. Had this taken place, the Siress could not have imposed conditions on the use of the item, including her inclusion on the mission. That initial event being avoided, the presence of the Commander becomes unnecessary, and the reasoning that permitted a civilian child and his pet to be part of the contingent no longer exists. The negotiations might have been conducted by the Strike Captain, supported by two warriors and, given the Strike Captain's superior experience and awareness of political intrigue, the situation involving one warrior's inadvertent acceptance of what amounted to indentured servitude might likewise have been avoided. Case D. Here is a clear case where the sense of urgency on the part of the High Command undermined careful review of personnel files for personal conflicts and verification of skill sets. Further, lax security standards allowed a child to be placed in jeopardy on a dangerous mission to a planet known to be actively hostile. Consideration also should have been given to the dynamics between the two groups of warriors, much as it should have been in Case B. An optimal team for this mission would have been a team in which all members had ice planet experience and at least one was a demolitions expert. It might be suggested, therefore, that selecting the most stable member of the renegade squadron, perhaps its Commander who was, as it turned out, the only surviving member of that squadron, would have been wiser than including the entire squadron, whose distrust of one another and alienation from the Colonial Warriors were known and documented. The additional lack of care used in validating and verifying that no records had been corrupted resulted in one warrior being included on the team who had none of the required skill sets. The optimal team, and the one who succeeded in fulfilling the goal of the mission, would have been the demolitions expert, supported by two warriors with ice-planet experience, at least one of whom was a pilot. These four cases point out a trend in mission team selection that has already been proven to be fatal to team members. It is this author's recommendation that High Command review and revise the criteria used in team selection to ensure that no personal, social, or political influence overrides skill set requirements and team optimization. Further this author suggests that an upgrade of computer security concurrent with verification of personnel record accuracy be undertaken at the earliest possible time in order that inaccuracies in such files not result in inappropriate team assignments. Finally, it is this author's recommendation that launch bay security standards and adherence to those standards by security officers be audited in view of the ease with which a child of ten yahrens, along with a noisy android, was able to board a military transport while it was being actively prepared for debarkation. Respectfully and anonymously submitted by a source knowledgeable of all four cases and of the systems and organizations discussed herein. Adama looked up to find Tigh gazing at him expectantly. "Well?" he said, one dark eyebrow rising into the wavy white hair. "It's all quite accurate, as you know," Tigh responded equably. "And the recommendations - well, I was highly insulted by the tone at first reading, but the more I think about them, the more reasonable they sound." "But who sent it?" Adama wondered aloud. "You say it couldn't be traced, does that mean someone on the Command Discussions list posted it?" "Unlikely. I've queried everyone on the list - it's a highly restricted list, after all - and they were all as, er, surprised by it as you and I were." "Unless someone's covering his tracks." "Or hers - Athena and Rigel are on the list." "Yes, of course." "But, actually, there are very few people who are, as the author says 'knowledgeable of all four cases and of the systems and organizations', so I was able to eliminate most of those with access." "And that left?" "Well, myself, of course." "Excluding you, Tigh. You wouldn't use such a ploy. It's not your way and it's not necessary. We know each other better than that." Tigh nodded his acknowledgment of the compliment and continued. "That leaves you, and it equally obviously isn't you - if I wasn't certain before I am after seeing your reaction." Adama chuckled. "Now how do you know I'm not just putting on a show, old friend?" "Because I *am* your old friend, Adama. With all due respect, Commander, you're not Starbuck." He grinned, an expression that would have astonished any of his subordinates. "Although in your day..." They shared the pleasant memory for a micron before turning back to the mystery. "Which leaves my son," Adama remarked. "Well, yes, except that he and I were in conference with Siress Tinia on possible promotions when Omega called me out of the room to show it to me." "It isn't his style of writing anyway, and he was never any good at disguising his style." "No, he's even less a Starbuck than you are." "Very true, Tigh, very true." Adama sighed. He reread the first few paragraphs. "You know, this just doesn't sound like any warrior I can think of. No, you know who it *does* sound like?" "Who, Adama?" "It sounds like ... a member of the Council - Adar or Uri - well, it's not sarcastic enough for Uri, but you get my drift." "You know you're right. But none of them..." "Have access to the list or the expertise to crack the security codes. I know. And with the possible exception of Siress Tinia, and you said she was with you?" "That's right," Tigh confirmed. "With the possible exception of the Siress, I don't believe any of them even *know* anyone - let alone *trust* anyone - to do this for them. They're a paranoid bunch." "So. Someone not on the list, but who's good at breaking into computers, and who has an academic or political tone, at least in his - or her - writing..." Adama shook his head. "I'm coming up dry." He stood and handed the printout back to Tigh. "Well, anonymous or not, the author makes some good points. I think we'd better formalize this discussion topic and take some action." *** "Sorry I was so long, Bucko," Apollo said as he strode into the office. "Tinia is so carefully politically correct it takes her forever to say what she thinks. And then Tigh got pulled out..." He shook his head and swept Starbuck's booted feet off his desk. "Anything happen while I was out?" "Nah," Starbuck said, stretching lazily and putting his feet back where they had been. "Nothing at all except your computer beeping." "Did you check what it was beeping about?" Apollo asked impatiently. "Aww, you know me, 'Pol," Starbuck whined. "I have no luck with computers." He gestured at the display. 'It's about the *only* thing you have no luck with, 'Bucko,' Apollo thought as he glanced at the machine. The entire display seemed to be filled with "Access Denied" lines. "Doesn't look like it's your fault this time though. Must have been a message on one of the restricted lists." He pushed his chair, and Starbuck, sideways to get at the keyboard, entered his password, and cleared the screen, never noticing that the last line on the display read, "Access Accepted - file submitted for immediate posting".