Running head: COMBATING COMPLACENCY IN ORGANIZATIONS 1

Combating Complacency in Organizations: Using Effective Leadership to Solve a Destructive Problem Treynor M. Wolfe University of Nebraska Lincoln

COMBATING COMPLACENCY IN ORGANIZATIONS 2

Numerous failures throughout history are attributed to complacency and the failure of leaders to combat it by recognizing the problems, setting high standards, and engaging subordinates with new challenges and roles. Complacency is a problem that involves all three lenses of leadership. The followers, the situation, and the leader all play a part in combating and enabling complacency to be a part of a command or organizations culture. Complacency starts and ends with the style and use of the leadership of the leader. Leaders, through their leadership style and use of their legitimate power allow complacency to form, but they can also stop complacency from becoming a problem. Citing examples of complacent behavior that led to widespread and tragic failure in military and civilian history, lessons can be drawn for future leaders to combat it. Historical situations that led to tragic or fatal failure include the USS Cole bombing in 2000 and the response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Using a multitude of different leadership tactics and strategies and drawing lessons from situations in history involving failures that are attributed to complacency, leaders can combat and stop complacency from becoming a problem within their organizations. Complacency is defined as, a feeling of contentment or self-satisfaction, especially when coupled with an unawareness of danger, trouble, or controversy (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000). Complacency is a more specific form of laziness, usually coming after a period of success. Complacent individuals or organizations view themselves as successful after reaching a goal or achieving greatness. These individuals then no longer strive for being the best, nor do they set new goals for them to achieve. This feeling of being in cruise control can be used to describe behavior that not only involves lack of success but can also be fatal as safety procedures being ignored and assumptions involving dangerous situations lead to destruction of

COMBATING COMPLACENCY IN ORGANIZATIONS 3 human lives and property. Most cases of complacency that are remembered are the ones that involve the most damage. Being complacent has also led to forgetfulness of safety procedures and standards. These incidents are often the most deadly and destructive. Leaders and subordinates make decisions based on past experiences or make assumptions about the situation whether or not to follow procedures. The situation plays a key role in whether or not complacency forms or not. A relaxed situation, where no perceived danger is present is the most likely to cause individuals to become complacent. Past experiences where fatal or destructive incidents have not happened may cause individuals to become complacent as well. These individuals forget the dangers with refusing to follow safety procedures because they have managed to disregard standards with no major incidents in a long period of time. Complacency can be stopped from becoming part of an organizations culture. Complacency starts very small before it affects an entire organization or group. Leaders with complacent behavior set an example of complacency to their subordinates, and affect a large number of the individuals within the organization. Leaders are responsible for stopping complacency within their organizations. The USS Cole bombing took place in Aden Harbor, Yemen on October 12th, 2000. A 35 foot boat laden with explosives rammed the Arleigh-Burke Destroyer while she was moored in port for refueling (Lumpkin 2004). The ship was in port conducting a routine refueling before she was struck by the boat. The boat tore a large hole in the USS Cole, killing 17 sailors and wounding 47 others (Lumpkin 2004). The US Navys (2004) investigation found that: USS COLE (DOG 67) executed a total of 31 of the 62 Force Protection measures required under THREATCON BRAVO by

COMBATING COMPLACENCY IN ORGANIZATIONS 4 COMUSNAVCENT/COMFIFTHFLT OPORD 99-01 (Force Protection). The ship "waived" 19 measures and failed to accomplish 12 others. Of the 31 measures not performed, 12 measures were key and may have prevented the suicide boat attack or mitigated its effects. (pg 8-9) The crew of the USS Cole received excellent scores for anti-terrorism operations for their pre-deployment workups. This success and perception of readiness led to the leadership and crew of the USS Cole to become complacent. The crew did not prepare for the high threat level of the port of Aden, and did not prepare for the coming disaster. A similar attack failed to cause damage to the USS The Sullivans 10 months prior to the USS Cole bombing (Lumpkin, 2004). Despite these warnings, the complacent crew did not prepare the ship for the coming disaster that unfolded. Leaders should always enforce required standards and safety measures. The crew of the USS Cole did not perceive a threat to be present, even as the boat approached the ship. Leaders should continuously run drills with their crews, and continuously train their subordinates and maintain the training of their teams. Leaders should also gain as much intelligence as possible about a dangerous situation, and plan and move resources accordingly to deal with it. Warning signs for the impending catastrophe on the USS Cole were present, and even when there was obviously a threat to the safety of the vessel, the crew were not prepared to act on it and protect their ship. The initial warnings and federal response to the devastation caused by hurricane Katrina in 2005 is another example of complacency in a civilian setting. The majority of citizens within New Orleans have been through tropical storms and hurricanes every year (Elder). Hurricane Katrina was initially a moderate category I storm, but rapidly became

COMBATING COMPLACENCY IN ORGANIZATIONS 5 a category V storm and was thought to be similar to past storms that have not been nearly as devastating as hurricane Katrina became (Zimmerman, 2012). The federal government and the city of New Orleans did not prepare a proper response to the devastation caused by hurricane Katrina. The government did not issue warnings to evacuate until the day before the storm had made landfall (Bills, 2006). The populace within New Orleans also relied upon their aging levee system to keep flood waters back and keep the city from flooding (Zimmerman, 2012). This levee system broke and had flood waters flowing over it within hours of the storm making landfall (Drye, 2005). This initial perception of the threat caused many New Orleans residents to simply stay within their homes and to treat the storm like past storms. Hurricane Katrina is regarded to be the 6th largest storm recorded within the Atlantic, but the most destructive (Zimmerman, 2012). This is attributed to the complacency of the residents to react accordingly to the impending threat. Residents who felt that they could simply rely on a federal response to the storm to save them or on the aging levee system suffered greatly. Federal response was also bogged down by the number of residents needed to be rescued after the storm. The city of New Orleans failure to prepare forced the city leaders to turn to the federal government, whose preparation was just as abysmal as the city. Hurricane Katrina grew from a category I hurricane to a category V hurricane in less than 9 hours (Zimmerman, 2012). This rapid growth caused the New Orleans city government to not issue a warning until the day before landfall. The federal response to Hurricane Katrina was slow, and was not well organized or prepared. The National Guard

COMBATING COMPLACENCY IN ORGANIZATIONS 6 did not arrive on the scene to aid residents until 4 days after the storm had made landfall (Drye, 2005). Leaders within the government should have prepared better for the coming storm. Orders to evacuate should have gone to the populace the moment the storm was classified as a hurricane. Leaders should never underestimate, nor should they ever assume that threats will always be the same as they were in the past. A lesson can also be drawn that a leader should not always rely on the help and aid of another organization. Leaders should always have their own teams properly trained and prepared for any threat. Non-fatal incidents can also be attributed to complacency. For example, in 2010, the Democrats lost one senate seat that they held on to for 47 years that they assumed they would win. The Democrats did not perceive, nor recognize the threat of losing the seat, and did not campaign accordingly. A student studies for a mid-term, passes it, then forgets all the information learned. The student becomes content with the grade, and then doesnt make any effort to relearn the information until the final exam. Leaders need to recognize complacency at its early stages. After periods of success or after goals are achieved, complacency is most likely to form. Leaders must recognize it and end the complacent behavior immediately. Setting newer, higher goals for the organization is a great way to stop complacency. A team that achieves one goal, and is immediately challenged to reach the next is a team that doesnt remain content with the level of performance they are currently at. Building an environment and culture of high expectation with subordinates cause them to feel they arent at where they need to be. Healthy competition within your team to complete goals faster than the other will go a long way in stopping complacency from forming. If team A completes a goal faster than

COMBATING COMPLACENCY IN ORGANIZATIONS 7 team B, then team B will work harder to compete with team A. Above all, complacency is a self-leadership challenge that cannot occur to the leader. A complacent leader causes disastrous results for his or her subordinates. A leader should lead by example and should strive to achieve their own goals and to not be content with themselves, or their organizations. Leaders should always be reminded of past instances of failure, so contentment with the current situation or success will not allow failure to happen again. Complacency is a known killer of organizations. Decisions for leaders and organizations to allow complacency to become widespread in their culture allow for fatal and catastrophic results to occur. With historical events where complacent behavior has led to failures such as the Hurricane Katrina response and the USS Cole bombing, lessons can be learned for future leaders. Many leadership strategies and methods can be used to combat complacency in organizations. These include recognizing the problem, setting new goals, building competition, and leading by example. Recognizing complacency and being equipped with methods and strategies to combat it are key for any leader to lead an organization no matter the size or purpose.

COMBATING COMPLACENCY IN ORGANIZATIONS 8 References Bills, J. (Director). (2006). Refuge of the Last Resort [Motion Picture]. Drye, W. (2005, September 14). Katrina Timeline. Retrieved from National Geographic: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/0914_050914_katrina_timeline_2.htm l Eikenberry, K. (2010, February 1). Six Ways to Defeat Complacency. Retrieved from Leadership and Learning: http://blog.kevineikenberry.com/leadership/six-ways-to-defeatcomplacency/?doing_wp_cron=1355115538.8321580886840820312500 Elder, K. (n.d.). University of South Carolina. Retrieved from Hurricane Katrina Crisis: http://www.sc.edu/katrinacrisis/elder.shtml Handwerk, B. (2005, September 2). Katrina Levees Not Build for Worst Case Events. Retrieved from National Geographic: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/0902_050902_katrina_levees.html Houghton Mifflin Company. (2000). American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Houghton Mifflin Company. Lumpkin, J. (2004). USS Cole Bombing. Retrieved from Global Security.org: http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/profiles/uss_cole_bombing.htm US Navy . (2000). Command Investigations into the Actions of the USS Cole . Webster. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/complacency Zimmerman, K. A. (2012, August 20). Hurrican Katrina Facts. Retrieved from Live Science: http://www.livescience.com/22522-hurricane-katrina-facts.html