Before departing from the post ANZAC Day military theme of the past week I’ll leave you with a very useful book to read called Hope Is Not a Method by Gordon R. Sullivan (Author), Michael V. Harper (Contributor). There is also an audio business product on this doctrine for business leaders which I am planning to get. You might find it useful, too.

The ‘top-down pyramid’ model of US corporations followed the WW II command model of the US military. The US military has been re-engineered and has inverted this model and US business is soon likely to follow suit.

  Here’s a review of the book which was first published in 1997.

I recently had the opportunity to get a lesson in warfare from one of Australia’s cleverest military thinkers. Last week a friend and I met with Major General Jim Molan for a few hours in Melbourne. He had been visiting to lecture to senior Justices on Leadership. This subject is largely a novelty for judges who have little need for it in their profession. They are concerned with arguing the Law in their chambers not enforcing it on the battlefield.

General Molan advises the ADF in Canberra on advanced warfighting concepts. It is always difficult, if not impossible, for civilians to understand what their soldiers are facing in the field. As a VietVet I discussed with the general how I found it was tempting to look at the Iraq War from the strategic perspective of one’s own experience of jungle warfare in Viet Nam but I knew that view would be misguided, to say the least.

So, I asked if he could explain succinctly what was the kind of warfare the coalition were up against in Iraq. Here he gave his lesson in warfare. He said, “The enemy have 27 million targets. We have 1000 targets. That’s the problem we are working to solve”.

On reflection since Friday, I have found that to be a really useful lesson and an insight that is likely to empower my thinking on this war for quite a while. With this lesson, the physics of this war are so much clearer; and warfare is mostly physics.

Today was fun. I had been invited to give a lecture at the University of Melbourne entitled “Corporations and the Military: Strategy and learning, thinking and training”. This was in a course designed by Dr Jim Shields at the Education Faculty called “An Introduction to Strategic Management in HRD”.

It was supposed to be 45 mins but the class was keen and we doubled it to an hour and a half. They were on the ball so I taught them the T4T strategy (from Game Theory) which has been shown to be the best-scoring strategy in the world–time and time again. There is a certain insight that is necessary for the players to ‘get’ before they can use the strategy. I call that insight “TIT is coming” and I was pleased that the class grasped it in the time available. I’m sometimes asked to teach T4T to senior executives and they can find it counter-intuitive at first.

The TIT for TAT Strategy

I was introduced to T4T (TIT for TAT) by Richard Dawkins 30 years ago in his chapter called “Nice guys finish first” in The Selfish Gene. I’ve used it personally, ever since. I’m very happy with the results. I’ll write a piece on it soon.

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup’s recent surveys of Muslims in London, Paris, and Berlin point to the need for greater understanding between Europe’s Muslim residents and the broader societies in which they live. But these surveys also offer plenty of evidence that the foundation for that understanding is already in place.

Perhaps most importantly, the results reflect a desire among both Muslims and the general public of the countries studied to improve mutual understanding of ethnic and religious differences.

For example, majorities of all groups interviewed expressed a preference for living in a neighborhood with mixed ethnic and religious backgrounds, rather than one where most people shared their own background.

More from Gallup …

Your CVS is your Current View of the Situation and every CVS is dominated by a Main Point.

For example, the main point about drug abuse is to ban drugs. Or, the main point about losing weight is dieting. The main point about an argument is winning. When we want to make an escape from a CVS its easier if we become aware of the main point. Identifying the main point in a CVS shows us more clearly what we need to escape from. When we can see the main point we can see what we may need to change.

ACTION: Today, as you think about your CVS practise becoming aware of the MAIN POINT.