| dc.description.abstract | Sensemaking and dynamics concerning transactive memory systems (TMS) were crucial to the outcome of the battle of Kamdesh, which took place in Afghanistan on October 3rd 2009. A small outpost of predominantly American soldiers suffered an attack by a numerically overwhelming enemy force. The Americans came close to being wiped out but managed to turn the battle in their favor. The article looks at both dynamics inside the unit on the ground, as well as within the emerging team constituted by ground force components and air support. A key takeaway is that sensemaking is a critical process, where poor execution can make a group vulnerable to psychological shock, which in turn could threaten to destroy the group. Furthermore, the article looks at how rotating key personnel in combat areas can impact group performance and survival negatively. Finally, different possibilities for how organizing tasks may develop in emerging teams is explored, finding differences in the emphasis on differentiation and integration of knowledge in various team constellations at work in the battle. In conclusion, the article proposes that optimizing for high team performance outweighs the costs this has for handling more common but less complex and critical combat incidents. | |
