The Need for Organisational Resilience Chapter 5

Rommel’s staff was extraordinarily efficient. They operated under intense pressure, often with

poor intelligence and minimal guidance from their commander. There were probably four factors

behind their effectiveness, they:

were all very capable individuals;

•

• all knew each other well – it was a socially cohesive team;

had trained together before deploying; and

•

• had already researched and assessed the situation in North Africa before arrival.

(Development Concepts and Doctrine Centre 2013, 3–5)

Rommel noted in his diary:

In my view the duties of a commander are not limited to his work with his staff. He must also concern

himself with details of command and should pay frequent visits to the fighting line, for the following

reasons:

a) Accurate execution of the plans of the commander and his staff is of the highest importance.

It is a mistake to assume that every unit officer will make all that there is to be made out of his

situation; most of them soon succumb to a certain inertia. Then it is simply reported that for

some reason or another this or that cannot be done – reasons are always easy enough to

think up. People of this kind must be made to feel the authority of the commander and be

shaken out of their apathy. The commander must be the prime mover of the battle and the

troops must always have to reckon with this appearance in personal control.

b) The commander must be at constant pains to keep his troops abreast of all the latest tactical

experience and developments, and must insist on their practical application. He must see to it

that his subordinates are trained in accordance with the latest requirements. The best form of

‘welfare’ for the troops is first-class training, for this saves unnecessary casualties.

c) It is also greatly in the commander’s own interest to have a personal picture of the front and a

clear idea of the problems his subordinates are having to face. It is the only way in which he

can keep his ideas permanently up to date and adapted to changing conditions. If he fights

his battles as a game of chess, he will become rigidly fixed in academic theory and admiration

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