Adversarial Logistics

The anthropologist Claude Levis-Strauss proposed that a narrative, or similar construct was made up of binary opposites. Through these binary opposites a deeper level of contesting views are formed and a more complete understanding can be explored. That is, both sides of a situation can be studied and applied with increased rigor and relevance. A few days ago I was researching some eclectic logistics issue when I realized that in most cases our logistics narratives are only tested from the one side, and rarely from the binary opposites filter. When applied to a situation a whole different understanding is realized.

A quick search revealed that there were some instances where a vague or mechanical approach was in place. But, it seemed to me that a full-on adversarial logistics analysis brought on by binary opposites is not done. In the contemporary complex competition we need to survive in, it seems to me that the binary opposite analysis is needed to deploy a system of Adversarial Logistics. This is not something that is a rehash of existing practices. It is working in the unknown unknown sector of a Johari Window.

Adversarial Logistics, as I see it, is a wicked problem and may not readily emerge from the data. As such, Adversarial Logistics will be an art as much a science and its outcomes paradoxical. It will require a skill set far beyond the routines described in standards. The intellectual and cognate foundations of the logistics state will need to be examined with knowledge filters that are developed for a specific purpose.

Adversarial Logistics will restructure the logistics doctrine, as current logistics doctrines architecture are unlikely to deal with legacy, current and future paradigms.

Adversarial Logistics is a work in progress. Many will claim that this is being done; but anecdotal evidence suggetsts otherwise. The test is the binary opposite analysis. This short note is a glimpse into the complex tacit knowledge situation.