Cook & Company
Commentary
SPECIAL EDITION
Gary?s Excellent Adventure
Last week I was privileged to participate in a
Our Mission
Lessons Learned
Council on Foreign Relations? tour of 7 US armed
services bases in 6 days. Yes, I got to do the usual
When soldiers? lives are at stake, there is an
To help individuals,
cool things, like watch a bomber being refueled
imperative that doesn?t appear to be present
teams and organizations
from the vantage point of the refueler in the back
elsewhere. Thus, because the Air Force is
of a KC-135 tanker, crash an F-18 in a canyon and
reach their potential
(generally) not being shot at at the present
hit a San Diego office building in a Sea Stallion heli-
through strategic plan-
time, it talks in terms of changing aerial warfare
copter (the latter two courtesy of some fairly im-
tactics in an approximate 18-month cycle. On
ning, innovative coach-
pressive simulators).
the other hand, the Army?s Training Command
ing, development of
at Ft. Irwin, California is trying to implement
team effectiveness and
But it was the chance to talk with the men and
potentially life-saving changes in dealing with
women of our armed services, especially the cap-
management consulting.
the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) that
tains, majors, colonels and generals, that really got
the Army faces in Iraq, within several weeks of
me thinking. I?d like to share what I learned about
first hearing about a new approach the enemy
leadership from these officers.
is using. While this may seem long, remember
that it includes identifying the new approach as
First, contrary to popular opinion, the military
a pattern and not just a one-off, figuring out
Cook & Company
knows a few things about leadership and manage-
how to deal with it, making sure the new ap-
ment ? and they are applicable to the private sec-
Areas of
proach works, and incorporating the new
tor. I know it is popular for those in the private
thinking within the training cycle.
Concentration
sector to profess, ?But only if those military guys
would learn from us about . . .? And I do think
What impressed me more were several exam-
there are areas in which the military may be able
ples of where servicemen and women (and I
Strategy
to learn significantly from the private sector. Lo-
met a lot of very impressive women in the
gistics is a good example, where far too many peo-
Army in particular) are doing their own Les-
Coaching
ple and too much inventory is needed to support a
sons Learned. Example: A young sergeant in a
single soldier at the front. Efforts seem to be un-
weapons disarming battalion spoke of seeing a
derway to deal with logistics but a great deal more
Assessments
similar group approaching an IED on foot from
needs to be done, and a great deal of money and
over 100 yards. That was the procedure. The
time can be saved by doing it.
Team Building
problem was that, in high heat and wearing the
requisite heavy bomb-protection suit, by the
But there are many areas where the military can
Consulting
time the expert reached the IED, he/she was
provide valuable lessons to the private sector.
fatigued. The solution? Put the disarmer on
These seem to fall into at least three areas:
Training
the hood of an armored humvee and bringing
him close enough to ID the device and decide
Workshops &
Lessons Learned
how to proceed. The other group immedi-
Retreats
ately saw the advantages and adopted the pro-
Behaviors of so-called Highly Reliable Organiza-
cedure. Talk about an innovation paradigm!
tions
Mergers &
Leadership
Acquisitions
Let?s look at each in turn.
Ethical
Performance
Cook & Company Commentary
Behaviors of Highly Reliable Organiza-
Leadership
tions (HROs)
Finally, a few words on leadership. Time and
As most of you know, a number of the organi-
again I was impressed with the leadership les-
zations I am working with find the approach of
sons in action that I observed. A few vignettes:
HRO organizations, and the behaviors they in-
Giving credit ?
When asked by a Brigade
culcate in their leaders and employees, to be
Commander how long it took to put up a
extremely helpful in creating alignment, organ-
Forward Operations Base, the captain in-
izational focus, and results. Organizations that
volved immediately gave his subordinate who
We?re on the Web at
have successfully employed these behaviors
had done the work the chance to answer.
include IT providers, manufacturing plants, envi-
Remembering the mission ? At the Marine
ronmental health and safety organizations, and
Corps Recruiting Depot in San Diego, the
service providers of all kinds.
focus is on creating marines through an ex-
tremely demanding regime that nonetheless
Some of the points that became even clearer to
weeds out in the first week or two over 90%
me on this trip include:
of the 10% of those who will eventually fail,
and trying very hard to ensure that the re-
Focus on weak signals
? This behavior, iden-
If you would like to
mainder make it through. The Army re-
tifying slight changes in the internal and exter-
quires that at least one of its generals attend
receive these com-
nal environment, and attempting to connect
every funeral. While a sign of respect, it also
mentaries by e-mail,
them to discern changes that may be creating
appears to keep the mind of those leaders on
or if you have a col-
threats or opportunities, seems well-
the responsibility for life and death which is
league you think
developed across the units we visited. Exam-
in their hands.
ple: In a war-gaming exercise at Ft. Irwin, we
might be interested
Innovation ? At Ft. Irwin, the army is using
saw several officers perusing communications
in receiving them,
old shipping containers to create realistic
traffic for possible patterns that might pre-
Iraqi villages, and Iraqi Americans to create
just e-mail your re-
cede important shifts in the enemy?s position
the verisimilitude necessary to prepare bri-
quest to:
and/or intentions.
gades for their imminent insertion in Iraq.
Deferral to expertise ? While the military is,
Breaking down silos ? The armed services
contact@
for obvious reasons, highly hierarchical, in
have been famous in the past for ?taking care
fact, when engaged in tasks where expertise is
cookcompany.com
of their own? at the expense of others (read
the key to success, we saw innumerable ex-
any military history of World War II for ex-
amples of this behavior. These included
amples). On this trip, we saw repeated ex-
enlisted personnel leading the way in manag-
amples of close cooperation, whether it was
ing a complex threat detection system for
Marines under the command of Army colo-
Forward Operating Bases, junior personnel
nels (or the reverse), the close communica-
taking the lead in managing simulators, and
tion of Air Force Unmanned Vehicle ?pilots?
repeated hand-offs by more senior officers to
with the ground forces they were supporting,
their subordinates to answer questions of
or the embedding of Special Forces units in
judgment (that is, not just a willingness to
other forces where necessary. America?s
have others with more facts answer those
military seems to be learning an important
types of questions).
lesson, one that leaders in the private world
Focus on stakeholders ? I was repeatedly
are still having trouble communicating effec-
impressed by a single-minded focus on stake-
tively to their employees.
holders, whether it be the quality of food in
the mess halls (ALL these units clearly
Whether or not you believe US forces should
?marched on their stomachs!?), the extended
be in Iraq, there are important leadership les-
hours for simulator training for pilots, or the
sons to be learned from how our military leads,
enormous efforts of the staff at Ft. Irwin to
learns, and conducts training and operations.
170 Marion St., Suite 200
make the experience for brigades as realistic
Hope you found these observations of interest.
as possible.
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© 2006 Cook & Company
