Cracking the Code on Measures of Effectiveness
Colonel Dave Maxwell; who sent along an earlier recommendation, see Ramping Up to Face the Challenge of Irregular Warfare; also recommends Cracking the Code on Measures of Effectiveness by Sergeant Christopher E. Howard published in the September – October 2009 edition of Special Warfare. SGT Howard’s article took 1st place in the Alfred H. Paddock Psychological Operations Essay Contest.
One of the most perplexing problems facing the PSYOP community is measuring the effectiveness of Psychological Operations. The larger the scale of the PSYOP effort, the more complex the problem grows, thus making operational PSYOP of a national or regional scope more difficult to measure than tactical efforts of limited scope.
Units often rely on measures of performance, or MOP, – showing what and how much they did – in lieu of measures of effectiveness, or MOE, because the former are comparatively easier to ascertain. But MOP alone do not answer the critical question, “Is the PSYOP effort working?” Although MOP serve a purpose, the greater emphasis should always be on obtaining valid, accurate MOE, since they provide decision-makers with the information necessary to determine which efforts deserve continued funding, which should be used as templates for future efforts and which should be adjusted or even abandoned.
Solving the MOE riddle requires that PSYOP planners and analysts do the “heavy lifting” before initiating PSYOP. Establishing the criteria for assessment requires solid planning and analysis. Unfortunately, those activities are often dispensed with in the name of expediency…
More at Special Warfare.