text: Chapter 8
  leads to the determination of those aspects of the operation to sustain and those to eliminate or curtail should
  a similar operation be undertaken in the future.
  8-9. In addition to supporting users such as the IO officer, the IO working group, IRC managers, other staff
  sections, and the commander, operations assessment feeds higher headquarters assessment and, oftentimes,
  external entities, such as governmental leadership. IO efforts, in particular, often elicit congressional scrutiny
  and commander-led assessment ensures units are ready to demonstrate the effectiveness of their influence
  efforts.
  8-10. Assessment is most valuable when operations or operational efforts are not working as planned because
  it helps the commander and staff figure out why and take corrective action. Units should avoid using
  assessment to justify decisions already made or merely to check the box. Assessment without the intent to
  employ its results is a waste of time and resources.
  PRINCIPLES THAT ENHANCE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF IO
  ASSESSMENT
  8-11. Assessment effectiveness is enhanced when it adheres to the following principles or best practices:
  * Uses clear, realistic and measurable objectives.
  * Begins with planning.
  * Employs an explicit logic of the effort.
  * Is continual and consistent over time.
  * Is iterative.
  * Is prioritized and resourced.
  8-12. Assessment is more effective when IO objectives are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and
  time-bound. Creating clear, realistic, and measurable objectives can be challenging early on, as initial
  guidance from higher might lack clarity. The IO officer asks clarifying questions but also proactively
  establishes the most specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound objectives possible and
  provides them to higher headquarters for review and refinement. The IO officer also tests its objective
  statements with relevant stakeholders, most especially the IRCs that contribute to the attainment of these
  objectives.
  8-13. Because IO creates effects in and through the information environment to influence, disrupt, corrupt,
  or usurp threat and other audience behavior and decision making, it is necessary to understand what the
  desired behavior looks like. This understanding drives the planning necessary to achieve the desired outcome.
  In other words, effective planning for IO cannot occur unless assessment is part of the operations process
  from the beginning.
  8-14. Unlike fires, whose effects are rapidly discernable, effects in the information environment may not be
  immediate and their causality can be difficult to determine. An essential part of planning and assessing IO is
  the need to develop an explicit logic of the effort for each objective or effect. The logic of the effort makes
  explicit how specific efforts lead to the attainment of objectives. The value of this logic is that its assumptions
  are made explicit and can become hypotheses that can then be tested and, if necessary, refined. Figure 8-1 on
  page 8-3 provides a simple example of a logic statement and how it evolves when its hypothesis is tested.
  More complex examples would include additional threat counter-measures that would test each successive
  hypothesis and the refinement of the IRC mix necessary to create as foolproof a logic as possible, balanced
  against risk, available assets, time, and cost.
  8-15. Since IO objectives are primarily articulated in terms of a change in one (or more) dimensions of the
  information environment, a baseline is required to assess progress toward or attainment of the objective. A
  baseline captures the current state of a person, place, or thing.
  8-16. Because evaluation is essential to planning, operational effectiveness and efficiency, and decision
  making and accountability, it is continual. More important for IO assessment is the fact that objectives are
  often measured in terms of patterns or trends in behavior. If assessment is not continual and consistent, these
  patterns or trends become difficult or impossible to detect and measure.