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?

Written by
Bob Keller
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