The Need for Organisational Resilience Chapter 5

stability and efficiency in day-to-day operations. It is important that administrative leadership

supports adaptive leadership, and must not stifle it. The extent of administrative leadership is

defined by the degree of how strict rules, procedures as well as routines by people to be

adhered to. It is the task, though, of administrative leadership to continuously improve a

‘rule-book’ as well as constantly help adaptive leadership to challenge habitual routines,

past-informed rules and procedures. It can enhance such support by providing adaptive

leaders with real-time intelligence, and facilitating communications throughout an

organisation.

Nevertheless, as straightforward as this sounds like, finding the right balance between administrative and adaptive leadership is very challenging, as the 28 th Infantry Division

experienced in 1944 (see following textbox).

[Text Box starts] Battle of Hürtgen Forest

The Battle of the Hürtgen forest was fought between September 12 th and December 16 th 1944.

Although it was the longest single, as well as one of the costliest series of battles the Americans

fought in WWII, it is often overshadowed by the Battle of the Bulge.

After the capture of the first major German city, Aachen, the primary objective of the Americans

was to push towards Düren and the Roer river, and crossing the Rhine south of Cologne. In the south,

though, of their planned corridor was the Hürtgen forest. It is located on the Belgian-German border,

and it northern borders lay between the cities of Aachen and Düren.

The dense conifer forest, littered with steep hills and valleys, is broken by few roads, tracks and

firebreaks. Tank movements is severely restricted as ground conditions considerably worsened during

October-December 1944. Some areas of the Hürtgen forest were incorporated into the Siegfried line,

also often referred to as the Westwall. Pillboxes, tank traps, trench systems, minefields with dreaded

shoe-mines, box and teller mines turned the Hürtgen forest into a killing zone. There, the Germans

intended to defend the Rur dams, and to use the area as a staging area for the upcoming offensive,

Wacht am Rhein , the offensive to be launched on December 16 th 1944.

The Americans though, were initially not aware of the strategic importance of capturing the Roer

dams. However, in order to not to expose their flanks, they planned to clear the forest. The Battle of

the Hürtgen forest commenced on September 12 th with the attack of the elements of the U.S. 3 rd

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