Thinking and Acting with Strategic Intent -- The Evergreen II Project Report
Guest Blog by CAPT Sandra Stosz - Director, Enterprise Strategy, Management, and Doctrine Oversight (CG-095)
The Coast Guard just completed the final touches on the latest cycle of Evergreen, Evergreen II (2006-2009). The project report may be found online here.
For those of you who were involved with the Evergreen II workshops and interviews I hope you will find the project report an outstanding compilation of the long hours you spent providing wonderfully valuable input. The report also provides recommendations on how to roll Evergreen strategy into overall Coast Guard strategic plans, resource decisions, and policy development.
Some of you may be wondering exactly what is Evergreen (note: not to be confused with the Coast Guard Foundation's Evergreen Funds, another valuable but completely separate program.) Well, we appreciate your interest and hope that after reading this post and reviewing the report, you will understand its importance and consider how you might contribute to implementing these recommendations and participating in the process in the future.
"Evergreen" signifies continuous renewal of our strategies and our strategic intent. Any navigator will tell you that knowing where you were is critical to knowing where you are going, but will likewise tell you that dead-reckoning on that position alone will often lead you into shoal waters. The Coast Guard is embracing a forward-thinking culture, gleaning lessons learned from our past, but realizing that tomorrow is unlikely to look like yesterday. Evergreen helps us avoid the hazards caused by failures of imagination by allowing us to look over the horizon beyond what Admiral Allen calls the "tyranny of the present." Evergreen allows us to think strategically about the future and chart our course toward the future Coast Guard that will best serve America.
Evergreen is much more than a series of documents, list of strategies, or even formalized processes. It is both a framework and a frame of mind for approaching investment decisions in policy and resources, and even for making tactical decisions in the field. Strategic thinking is vital for policy makers and planners at all levels in the organization, but it is not only for trops-donned staffers conning a SWIII in Washington, DC. Indeed, to become a part of our culture strategic thought must resonate along the entire length of the spear from the flag officer to the coxswain.
Take as an example a station OIC who hosts a pollution response trailer on the station's property. Realizing that simply providing parking for the trailer does little to promote readiness, the OIC requests the nearby Marine Safety Detachment to provide oil boom deployment training for the station's boat crews. The OIC also invites the fire department to participate with their boats and crews since they are likely to be employed as well in a pollution emergency. Finally, the OIC invites the local press to showcase the Coast Guard's involvement in the community and cooperation between first response partners. Perhaps the OIC realized that doing so concurrently advanced four of the Evergreen core strategies (21st Century Partnerships, Mission Portfolio Management, The Right Skills, and Communications Excellence). More likely he or she intuitively realized that regardless of what events the station may have to respond to in the future, training the crew alongside their Prevention shipmates, building strong community ties, leveraging resources, and forging a healthy relationship with local media will position them to succeed. The Evergreen strategies provide us a context to unify and strengthen this strategic thought process across the Coast Guard.
I often get questions asking how and when Evergreen will be implemented. The truth is that implementation of Evergreen strategy is an all-hands evolution. In fact, Evergreen core strategies can already be found in many current Coast Guard initiatives: Interagency Arctic Awareness Trip (Polar Mission Capacity, 21st Century Partnerships), Marine Safety Centers of Expertise (The Right Skills), Sector Development (Mission Portfolio Management). Evergreen is also being used to drive budget development and support Coast Guard senior executive decision making.
Guardians are by nature and tradition a culture of "doers." To adapt in an ever changing world, however, it is important for us to employ strategic thought at all levels so that when the SAR alarm goes off the mission is already half accomplished. I encourage you to consider attending future workshops as we renew the strategies in the next cycle, Evergreen III (2010-2013). Consider how your world of work fits into the Evergreen strategies and please take a quick moment to learn more about Evergreen and provide feedback and suggestions on the CG-0951 website (click "Feedback" on the left navigation menu). Keep the Evergreen strategies in mind and let them be your guide as you develop policies, allocate resources, begin new initiatives, train your people, and execute your daily routine.
The Coast Guard just completed the final touches on the latest cycle of Evergreen, Evergreen II (2006-2009). The project report may be found online here.
For those of you who were involved with the Evergreen II workshops and interviews I hope you will find the project report an outstanding compilation of the long hours you spent providing wonderfully valuable input. The report also provides recommendations on how to roll Evergreen strategy into overall Coast Guard strategic plans, resource decisions, and policy development.
Some of you may be wondering exactly what is Evergreen (note: not to be confused with the Coast Guard Foundation's Evergreen Funds, another valuable but completely separate program.) Well, we appreciate your interest and hope that after reading this post and reviewing the report, you will understand its importance and consider how you might contribute to implementing these recommendations and participating in the process in the future.
"Evergreen" signifies continuous renewal of our strategies and our strategic intent. Any navigator will tell you that knowing where you were is critical to knowing where you are going, but will likewise tell you that dead-reckoning on that position alone will often lead you into shoal waters. The Coast Guard is embracing a forward-thinking culture, gleaning lessons learned from our past, but realizing that tomorrow is unlikely to look like yesterday. Evergreen helps us avoid the hazards caused by failures of imagination by allowing us to look over the horizon beyond what Admiral Allen calls the "tyranny of the present." Evergreen allows us to think strategically about the future and chart our course toward the future Coast Guard that will best serve America.
Evergreen is much more than a series of documents, list of strategies, or even formalized processes. It is both a framework and a frame of mind for approaching investment decisions in policy and resources, and even for making tactical decisions in the field. Strategic thinking is vital for policy makers and planners at all levels in the organization, but it is not only for trops-donned staffers conning a SWIII in Washington, DC. Indeed, to become a part of our culture strategic thought must resonate along the entire length of the spear from the flag officer to the coxswain.
Take as an example a station OIC who hosts a pollution response trailer on the station's property. Realizing that simply providing parking for the trailer does little to promote readiness, the OIC requests the nearby Marine Safety Detachment to provide oil boom deployment training for the station's boat crews. The OIC also invites the fire department to participate with their boats and crews since they are likely to be employed as well in a pollution emergency. Finally, the OIC invites the local press to showcase the Coast Guard's involvement in the community and cooperation between first response partners. Perhaps the OIC realized that doing so concurrently advanced four of the Evergreen core strategies (21st Century Partnerships, Mission Portfolio Management, The Right Skills, and Communications Excellence). More likely he or she intuitively realized that regardless of what events the station may have to respond to in the future, training the crew alongside their Prevention shipmates, building strong community ties, leveraging resources, and forging a healthy relationship with local media will position them to succeed. The Evergreen strategies provide us a context to unify and strengthen this strategic thought process across the Coast Guard.
I often get questions asking how and when Evergreen will be implemented. The truth is that implementation of Evergreen strategy is an all-hands evolution. In fact, Evergreen core strategies can already be found in many current Coast Guard initiatives: Interagency Arctic Awareness Trip (Polar Mission Capacity, 21st Century Partnerships), Marine Safety Centers of Expertise (The Right Skills), Sector Development (Mission Portfolio Management). Evergreen is also being used to drive budget development and support Coast Guard senior executive decision making.
Guardians are by nature and tradition a culture of "doers." To adapt in an ever changing world, however, it is important for us to employ strategic thought at all levels so that when the SAR alarm goes off the mission is already half accomplished. I encourage you to consider attending future workshops as we renew the strategies in the next cycle, Evergreen III (2010-2013). Consider how your world of work fits into the Evergreen strategies and please take a quick moment to learn more about Evergreen and provide feedback and suggestions on the CG-0951 website (click "Feedback" on the left navigation menu). Keep the Evergreen strategies in mind and let them be your guide as you develop policies, allocate resources, begin new initiatives, train your people, and execute your daily routine.
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