Command by negation Command by negation is a military command and control doctrine - a hybrid of command by direction and command by influence . Commonly found in the United States Navy , particularly in independent commands at sea , the doctrine is based around the idea of allowing individual officers to show their own initiative in executing actions , freeing up their superiors to focus on the bigger picture . History and evolution . Most commonly found in the United States Navy , the doctrine evolved in the 1980s , although a variant known as " Auftragstaktik " was used by the German armed forces in the Second World War . Traditionally , naval engagements had been conducted in the same way for 400 years : the task force commander would coordinate centrally . Improved technology led to warfare moving faster , which necessitated a shift away from central control ; a commander had to be able to focus on the wider picture , and would not be able to effectively do that if they were also dictating the actions of every individual subordinate . Command by negation first came into being on individual ships , where it made sense - a captain who delegated authority and exercised command by negation could easily monitor his staff and communicate with them because it was a small environment . Within wider naval engagements , however , the Officer in Tactical Command ( OTC ) still maintained a rigid control structure , because communications systems simply couldn ' t work efficiently enough to make loose and autonomous doctrines viable . This changed with improvements in the 1970s and 80s to networking , communications and the amount of information available to an OTC . The introduction of AEW & C systems , SOSUS and satellite - fed data risked overwhelming the OTC , and so forces were forced to shift towards granting individual commanders more autonomy - something that improved communications made possible . This eventually resulted in the concept of a Composite Warfare Commander ( CWC ) . Practice . In practice , the doctrine is built around the idea that individual ship commanders or officers will be allowed to undertake autonomous operations . In exchange , they report their intention to do so to their superior officer , noting that the action will be taken " UNODIR " - UNless Otherwise DIRected - and provide a continual stream of information to the superior officer , who is not required to sign off on the plan or execute it , but only gets involved if the superior objects . Command by negation is the " override " that allows the superior officer to step in if they take issue with the plan , but otherwise allows the inferior officer to operate as they see fit . The primary advantage of command by negation are that the doctrine frees up the OTC to look at the bigger picture ; unlike in traditional naval warfare , they are no longer required to actively coordinate the actions of each vessel or unit under their command . In addition , it allows individual commanding officers closer to the ground , with a better sense of the tactical position , to operate autonomously and contribute to the task force ' s overall actions . Command by negation suffers from the disadvantage of autonomous and decentralised command and control generally - that too much information may be generated , increasing the temptation for senior officers to interfere with the actions of individual units and nullify the advantages command by negation provides , and that the ( tactically sensible ) actions of a subordinate may needlessly escalate any situation .