Warfighting

Warfighting (1989) is the U.S. Marine Corps book of strategy.  I was recently given a copy by a retired Colonel in the U.S. Marines.  Not only was it an interesting read, I found it to be chock full of useful guidance for those in leadership positions in any kind setting (not just those in the military). 

Some of the transferable takeaways for me:

 > “Moral forces are difficult to grasp and impossible to quantify…Yet moral forces exert greater influence on the nature and outcome of war than do physical.” (p. 16)

> “Intellect without will is worthless, will without intellect is dangerous.”  -Hans von Seekt

> “We should deal with errors [of junior leaders] leniently; there must be no ‘zero defects’ mentality. Not only must we not stifle boldness or initiative, we must continue to encourage both traits in spite of mistakes.” (p. 58-59)

> “Because we recognize that no two situations ... are the same, our critiques should focus not so much on the actions we took as on why we took those actions and why they brought us the results they did.” (p. 63)

> “All commanders should consider the professional development of their subordinates a principal responsibility of command.” (p. 66)

> “First and foremost, in order to generate the tempo of operations we desire and to best cope with the uncertainty, disorder, and fluidity ..., command must be decentralized.” (p. 79)

A good and brief read.  Worthy learning for me to ponder and incorporate.