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Strategies Are Nice, But What Are We Doing About It?

SUMMARY

An introduction to Milestones and Measures and their function within the United States SIGINT System Strategy (also know as "The Placemat")

DOCUMENT’S DATE

Aug 28, 2006

PUBLICLY AVAILABLE

May 29, 2019

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Page 1 from Strategies Are Nice, But What Are We Doing About It?
DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL (U) Strategies Are Nice, But What Are We Doing About It? FROM: SIGINT Performance Planning (S01X) Run Date: 08/28/2006 (U) In our last article, we explained the working parts of the USSS Strategy - Goals, Objectives, Metrics and Milestones. You had the opportunity to investigate some of the specific activities supporting our Goals and Objectives. What can an organization do to ensure achievement of the strategy? That's where the Milestones and Measures come in. There's a saying, "What is examined gets done." (U//FOUO) Each quarter, the SIGINT leadership examines progress against the Goals and Objectives on the Placemat by reviewing the Long Range Plan. This plan contains the milestones under each objective to be achieved in the next 12-18 months. The plan also contains strategic measures, which indicate progress toward the desired end-state. The most recent quarterly review was held July 31. The briefing from that review, containing the highlights presented by each Goal Owner, is posted on the SID web page . (Click on "2006 USSS Long Range Plan 1st Qtr Review" in the bottom left corner of the page.) SERIES: (U) The Placemat 1. The Placemat: What in the World Is It? 2. USSS Strategy and Long Range Plan: A Vocabulary Lesson 3. Strategies Are Nice, But What Are We Doing About It? 4. The New A&P Strategy (U//FOUO) Quarterly reviews of the Milestones and Measures allow the Goal Owners and SIGINT Director to ensure that key steps toward the goals are being taken and that our measures indicate improvement. These reviews also give them the opportunity to address problems that may impede progress. Additionally, by reviewing the progress as a group, connections and synergies between activities under different goals can be identified. For example, in the July review, the leadership linked the training activities conducted under Goals A.1, A.2, B.2 and C.2. (U//FOUO) Since beginning this process of quarterly reviews three years ago, 70-80% of the milestones have been completed and several key performance metrics have shown improvement. Future articles on each of the Goals will describe some of these successes. "(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)." DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108