Society of American Military Engineers’ Post

Kathleen Hogan - Thanks for the post. Benchmarking Microsoft’s Growth Mindset journey added confidence that the Navy learning transformation was on a solid vector. Navy leaders recognize there is no finish line to this challenging journey and lead with these lessons to impact both outcomes and people’s underlying beliefs about how the Navy works, what is rewarded, and what is effective - the foundation of culture. Accelerating Navy’s performance advantage with transparency, collaborative problem-solving, focused barrier removal, and valuing learning as an outcome… ‘Lead, don’t manage’ in action.

Such a good read! Another phrase to live by: Get Real, Get Better. The article talks about the importance of embracing the power of data in generating important insights of the real constraints inhibiting performance. It also explains further the importance of good and effective leadership in enabling the people to perform at their best, and be the self-managing individuals that they could possibly be; guided, encouraged, and led by their leaders, with these five (5) routinely asked questions during "learning and barrier removal-centered discussions": Where did we predict we would be now? Where are we actually? What did we learn from any gap between the two? What are the most consequential barriers to meeting the goal (and how do we know)? Who owns the decision rights on them? In result, as the author of the article stated, "over time, these conversations became psychologically safe as leaders kept the focus on collaborative problem-solving – what are the biggest barriers we face today, how do we know, and how do we solve them?". #data #leadership #culture

Culture of Excellence 2.0 sets the foundation for how we will build the #Warfighters of America’s Warfighting Navy – our People, Leaders, and Teams – Active, Reserve, and Civilian. Enabled by the Get Real, Get Better call to think, act, and operate differently. https://lnkd.in/d-gm8A8t

Simple or Complex The Corporate vs Military Version Corporate America: Simple-One train arriving at the train station every hour Complex- Two trains arriving at the train station every hour. U.S. Military: Simple-arriving to work on time. Complex-Coordinating 4 platoons movements while simultaneously coordinating air power, artillery, mortars and replenishment. One of the big lies in corporate America is telling you that it's harder than it looks. It is not hard and it's not complex if you've had even a small amount of operational planning training. Not only is leadership not taught but neither is planning. Sadly, I've watched a dozen managers fail because they were unable to plan for two trains arriving at the same time. Every 2nd Lieutenant in the Marine Corps is taught planning before they arrive to the fleet and attend numerous schools throughout their career. #veteranshelpingveterans #veterans #leadership #leaders #marines

This is Space Force Junior ROTC Encouraging Future "Leaders of Character" for the Nation The entire Space Force JROTC enterprise wants to send its best wishes to the graduates in the Class of 2024 from all the high schools of the Air Force Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (AFJROTC), which includes the current program of ten #SFJROTC units, who are going through their basic cadet training now as a member of the Class of 2028 at the United States Air Force Academy. The mission of the Air Force and Space Force JROTC programs is to create "citizens of character" for their communities. The mission of the Air Force Academy is to create "leaders of character" for the United States Air Force and United States Space Force and the nation. #CharacterAboveAll #IntegrityFirst

Lessons on Leadership: Michael Abrashoff was in his mid-thirties when he took command of the USS Benfold, a guided missile destroyer and one of the worst-performing ships in the navy. Despite her potency, the “dysfunctional ship had a sullen crew that resented being there and could not wait to get out of the Navy.” By the time he left, less than three years later, Benfold had become the highest-performing ship and retention was amazing. And he did it all without changing a member of the crew. Most organizations create an ineffective system of rules and policies that attempt to prepare for every possible contingency. The thing about rules and policies is they become very hard to fix once they are put in place. Both the people who put them in place and those whose job it is to exercise them become highly motivated advocates of the policies. Even if the policies originally made sense, they become very hard to change as the environment changes. When you try to change something but can’t, you start becoming a tenant and stop being an owner. And ownership dramatically increases the odds of success.

“Must build generational readiness”. Rotations such as XCTC and NTC are going to build that generational readiness (training) in the Gator BDE.

Great post with actionable ideas and tools to do so...

As a Fleet Seminar Student at the U.S. Naval War College, I learned how military theory and practice can be applied to non-operational defense business and even the corporate world. While I don't expect CEOs to become experts in Clausewitz, understanding the concept of avoiding analysis paralysis and the importance of Mission Command Leadership can greatly benefit an organization. If we embrace the idea of failing forward with the best information available at the time and avoid being too harsh with after action decision making, we can collectively improve faster and stronger together. Working in the #telco industry, I found LTC Brian Forester's analysis on signal to noise ratio to be very applicable. Commanders and staffs must think clearly about both signal and noise, and communicate the uncertainty associated with an estimated outcome to their commanders. It's important to resist the temptation to overcorrect when the observed outcome doesn't align with algorithm predictions. Check out the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gJcsTTqz

⚓📘Mini- Review: Surf When You Can by Captain (Navy) Brett Crozier. I couldn’t put this book down! If you are in search of an engaging and insightful read about naval operations, especially concerning blue water maneuvers, “Surf When You Can” is an excellent choice. The author, a Senior Navy Officer, recounts his life journey from childhood to his final moments using the ship’s brow after successfully leading over 1,200 Sailors onboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt. Despite his achievements, Navy Captain Crozier candidly acknowledges his shortcomings as a Commanding Officer, particularly in addressing the fallout from COVID-19, which ultimately cost him his job. In each chapter, he introduces various concepts to help readers understand his experiences and emphasizes how these can be applied as leadership skills. Additionally, he offers valuable insights for future fighter pilots. Stay tuned for my full review, but in the meantime, I highly recommend this book to those aspiring to become the Chief of the Naval Staff. 🦅