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HBR blog series, OctoberNovember 2010

Even generals have to learn to excelunder pressure, Paul Sullivan says inHow Cadets Learn to Be Clutch, ablog post in our Leadership Lessonsrom the Military spotlight. HBRbloggers covered topics ranging romstrategy execution and training to coor-

dinating teams and carrying out the commanders in-tent. Some readers ound that military best practicesmight be too dif erent rom those in business to ollow,while others saw deep parallels and apt lessons.

Frontline Leadership

Military Skill Sets Lead to Organizational

Success, by Chad Storlie The military

off ers [w]orld-class, combat-honed, and

expansive skill sets in strategic planning,

war-gaming (competitor-on-competitor

role play), competitive intelligence, leader

development, rigorous standard enforce-ment, and innovation in execution.

The military-to-organization model is prob-

lematic because of the armed forces rigid

chain of command and its use of disciplin-

ary sanctions for noncompliance.

Posted by Toni Hynds, President and Lead Con-sultant, Hynds Consulting Group

Storlie responds: As the missions

available resources and competitive

landscape change, military personnel

can quickly adapt while achieving the

commanders intentacting more, not

less, independently.

The Strategic Corporal, by Rye Barcott

As the lowest ranking noncommissioned

offi cer in the Marine Corps, strategic

corporals often must lead their teams

through peril without help from superiors.

Corporals have to make quick deci-

sions, some of which can carry strategic

implications.

Although pushing decision making down

to the lowest ranking noncommissioned

offi cer might seem like a good idea, it can

result in the deterioration of the chain of

command and to very bad decisions with

awful results. For example, during the

torture of prisoners in Abu Ghraib, where

were the offi cers? Where was military

discipline?

Posted by Marc Brenman, Principal, SocialJustice Consultancy

The commanders intent must be under-

stood by every leader, creating autonomy

even in small units. The Abu Ghraib debaclewas an anomaly and no more or less despi-

cable than the executive abuse of privilege

at Enron or Lehman Brothers.

Posted by David Tillman, Director of Consulting,CGI Federal, and Retired U.S. Marine GunnerySergeant

Barcott responds:The idea that decen-

tralized decision making contributed to

the tragic abuses that occurred at Abu

Ghraib is wrong. I spent some time at

Abu Ghraib in 2006 and remain troubled

by the horror that occurred there and bythe fact that our military leadership was

never held fully accountable. The abuse

did not happen because of a few corpo-

rals gone astray but because of severely

fl awed leadership at the highest levels of

our government, that, through policy and

culture, created the conditions that made

the unthinkable possible.

The Sustainable Supply Chain

HBR interview with Peter Senge, October 2010When asked what it takes for a company toget serious about issues like water, energy,and waste in its supply chain, Senge answers,

I use the word sustainability as little as possible because itsso generic; it makes peoples eyes glaze over.

Senge raises necessary points, but

he provides little traction on how

we can begin to move forward. Why

does this implementation void ex-

ist? Sustainability prompts far less

enthusiasm than was once antici-

pated. The Global Reporting Initiative

tells us that a very small percentage

of companies have truly invested in

sustainability. Books and magazine

articles tend to describe the what ofsustainability and avoid the why and

the how.

At meetings where sustainability initia-

tives are discussed, there is no absence

of head-nodding in response to the CEOs

mandates. After all, sustainability will be

part of the next performance appraisal.

But that does nothing to drive true buy-in.

Naysayers should be encouraged to speak

up in these meetingsand the organiza-

tion should pay attention to their concerns.

92 Strategy

7 Questions toStress-Test Your StrategyRobert Simons

102 Innovation

Finding EntrepreneurialOpportunity in AdversityBhaskar Chakravorti

127 Managing Yourself

Whats Your PersonalSocial Media Strategy?Soumitra Dutta

NOVEMBER 2010

Extreme conditions in Afghanistan andIraq have become a testing ground foradaptive management skills that everyCEO should understand.

LeadershipLessons fromThe Military

SPOTLIGHTPAGE 65

8Harvard Business Review JanuaryFebruary

Interaction

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HBR.ORG

Good Communication, Better Orders,

by Bill Dunham A tactical commander

facing a snap decision might have time to

ask only the odd cursory question. Buthe

will have talked to his men and colleagues

and the discussions all go into the collec-

tive memory bank so that next time around,

the decision is slicker and the team works

better.

It is rare for managers across teams to

meet together to discuss and learn whathas worked for them (or not).

Posted by notmd

Four Steps to Improved Frontline Execu-

tion, by Ed Barrows A specifi c type of

combat order, known as the fi ve paragraph

order, is so fundamental to the Corpss suc-

cess that every Marine must learn and use it

in the planning and execution of every mis-

sion. It addresses the high-level situation

and the details of the missions execution.

The offi cers I know treat each decision as

though it had life or death consequences.

These steps build eff ective communication,

which builds trust, ensuring alignment of

the mission.

Posted by Louis Bonhomme, ProjectManager and Technical Lead,EMD Millipore

Employees see sustainability asa fad; investors want their return

but know that green R&D spending

will have a short-term, negative

impact. On this issue, compliance

spells doom. Expect that.

Gary R. Carini, Professor and AssociateDean for Graduate Programs, HankamerSchool of Business, Baylor University

Mark Dunn, Professor of Marketing,Hankamer School of Business, BaylorUniversity

MAIL: 60 Harvard Way, Boston, MA 02163

E-MAIL: hbr_letters@hbr.org

FACEBOOK: facebook.com/HBR

Correspondence may be edited for

space and style.

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