Article 12 - Chain of Command and Delegation

Continuity of operations fails when authority is unclear. Crisis tempo depends on who can decide and when. If a key leader is unreachable, operations stall. Clear delegation, activation criteria, and succession planning keep enterprise momentum and protect mission outcomes. We Are Red Teaming: Gaps in decision authority, unclear activation rules, and missing succession planning for critical functions. Mitigation Actions:

• Delegation and succession planning: these keep operations moving when a primary decision-maker is offline.
• Delegation: Pre-identify alternates for key decisions, document their authorities and communicate this throughout the organization.
• Activation criteria: Define who can activate emergency authorities and under what conditions.
• Succession planning: Put legal and practical arrangements in place for short and long-term coverage and communicate them to teams.

When the primary is offline, the mission should continue without debate or delay. Does everyone know who decides next?