Summary

In the summer of 1940 the clouds of war were gathering around the United States.  Its ally Britain was faced with a summer of pounding air attacks, and the entire continent of Europe was falling to the Nazi’s.  In the Pacific, the situation was deteriorating.  The colonial governments of the French and Dutch colonies in Asia and the Pacific islands were being pressured to give the Japanese access to valuable resources of oil and minerals.   The Japanese Imperial Army continued it conquest of China and Manchuria, seeking more resources, food, and local labour.  The Japanese Imperial Navy continued to modernize and build it strength.  The US was restricting exports of tools, steel, and most importantly aviation fuel and oil to Japan.  It was obvious that a conflict was approaching rapidly between the two countries.

Overview of the Book
In May of 1940 response to these growing threats, President Roosevelt ordered the US Pacific Fleet move home port from the coast of California to the rapidly growing base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.  It was believed that this would deter any Japanese aggression in the Pacific.  On April 1st of 1941, Naval Intelligence in Washington sent the following communication to the commandants of all naval districts (including the 14th district in Hawaii):

“…past experience shows the Axis Powers often begin activities in a particular field (ie launch attacks) on Saturdays and Sundays or on national holidays of the country concerned… take steps on such days to see that proper watches and precautions are in effect”

The US Army was not immune to these concerns.  By 1941 there were 25,000 soldiers and over 200 of its most modern aircraft and pilots deployed to protect the great navy and its resources.  The Army had 31 anti aircraft batteries protecting the harbor.  On April 7th, 1941 the commanding general commented:
“Here in Hawaii we all live in a citadel or gigantically fortified island”

As tensions heightened, on November 27, 1941 Naval Command in Washington sent the following dispatch to all field commandants:
“This dispatch is considered to be a war warning……an aggressive move by Japan is expected within the next few days….Execute appropriate defensive deployment….”

On the same day, the Commanding General of the Army in Hawaii received a message that was personally written by the Secretary of War and the President, informing him:

“Japanese future action unpredictable but hostile action possible at any moment.”

We all know the story of what happened on December 7, 1941.  Few of us know why or how all the best efforts of the US Military failed to prevent the Japanese from attacking so successfully and with very minimal losses.

The attack on Pearl Harbor is a study in governance, with two large bureaucratic organizations (The US Army and Navy) managing the most complex technology of their day.  These two groups were given conflicting and overlapping mandates in Hawaii, with a shared goal and badly broken lines of communication.  The objective of the new Lessons from History book on this event is to parallel the lessons from the days leading up to the attack to situation in modern corporate and IT governance.  We let the history act as both a mirror and a lens, helping us see our organization in the reflection of the events from 1940-41, and focus on the key lessons of governance that those events contain.