dispatches from the new world of work

"Simple"

Of course it's not simple! "Nation building," that is. Especially in Iraq. On the other hand, I urge you to read, "How One Soldier Brought Democracy to Iraq: The Mayor of Ar Rutbah," by the "mayor" himself, Major James Gavrilis/U.S. Army Special Forces (Foreign Policy, November-December 2005). The often brushed-over fact is that around the world the Army is becoming more and more decentralized, depending on "entrepreneurs"-in-uniform to perform the complex tasks of stabilization and nation building. Some are successful at these remarkably complex tasks, and many aren't. Gavrilis is an exemplar of those who "get it." The task is insanely (right word) complex, but on the other hand built upon remarkably simple and universal pillars—that work in the coal mine, finance department and in the middle of the desert. Consider these two compelling quotes from MAJ Gavrilis:

"We behaved as if we were guests in their house. We treated them not as a defeated people, but as allies. Our success became their success."

"We were friendly and respectful whenever we met a Bedouin or farmer, often sharing tea with them in the middle of the open desert. Our behavior sent the clearest message: We cared more about the people of Ar Rutbah than did the Fedayeen. ... After all, we had done everything possible to limit damage to civilian infrastructure and private property. ... We treated enemy wounded and distributed contraband food. I stopped our final assault to institute a day-long cease-fire as a gesture to the people of
the city."

I don't mean that MAJ Gavrilis wasn't tough when required (often!), but that the guiding principle was to avoid acting like an occupying victor and acting instead a respectful supporter. After all, the entire idea of this venture (chimerical quest for WMD notwithstanding) is to build a symbolic Fortress of Democracy in the heart of the Middle East.

Democracy's underpinning ultimately is respect for the rights and collective wisdom of the governed.

To put it mildly, the major's remarks ("secrets") dovetail perfectly with quotes that I've long used in my mostly private-sector leadership seminars:

"What creates trust, in the end, is the leader's manifest respect for the followers."—Jim O'Toole, leadership guru, Leading Change

"It was much later that I realized Dad's secret. He gained respect by giving it. He talked and listened to the fourth-grade kids in Spring Valley who shined shoes the same way he talked and listened to a bishop or a college president. He was seriously interested in who you were and what you had to say."—Professor Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Harvard, Respect

There's no such thing, for example, as a wildly successful six-sigma program (or a nation-building effort) without respect for the autonomy and goodwill of the "governed."

Consider another pillar of my take on implementation of successful change programs and MAJ Gavrilis's mid-desert approach. Here's a common exchange between me and a participant at one of my events:

Participant: "How long does it take to bring about significant change?"

TP: "Whatever you say it does."

That is, more or less (mostly more) change takes as long as you expect it to. Expect it to be a 3-year process and so it will be. (In fact such lengthy processes seldom materialize; the "targets" are worn out long before execution has progressed very far.) On the other hand, if you believe that the attitudinal shift, even a fundamental attitudinal shift, can occur in a couple of weeks, so it will ordinarily will be. (ASSUMING YOU GET AN A+ IN "WALK THE TALK." Gandhi: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world.") And so it was in Ar Rutbah. Believe it or not, MAJ Gavrilis and his cohorts and Iraqi "partners" had made giant (right word) practical strides toward local autonomy and stabilization in a ... week!

Not to drag this out too long, the Foreign Policy article coincided with a brief but compelling piece on the under-appreciated, under-funded Coast Guard's remarkable effectiveness post-Katrina:

"HOW THE COAST GUARD GETS IT RIGHT"—Headline, Time, 10.31.2005

The USCG's "secrets":

*Autonomy
*Flexibility

And the bedrock upon which these two all-important principles rest: "Perhaps the most important distinction of the Coast Guard is that it trusts itself." Or, rather, the degree to which the USCG trusts its local commanders to do the right thing without ceaseless checking and "co-ordination" with the always clumsy chain of command.

Which, in turn, calls forth another of the pillars of my belief system as expressed in my seminars. It was best and most succinctly explicated by Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman in their masterwork Organizing Genius:

"Groups become great only when everyone in them, leaders and members alike, is free to do his or her absolute best."

"The best thing a leader can do for a Great Group is to allow its members to discover their greatness."

Amen!

I could go on ... and on. Instead I'll close by emphasizing the obvious: When an organization works—very small or very large, private sector or public sector or independent sector—it invariably does so by assiduously attending to the Universal Principles demonstrated above.

It's that simple.
It's that hard.

(Part of this analysis is captured in the attached PowerPoint Special Presentation.)

Tom Peters posted this on 11/10/05.

Comments

Hi Tom,

I've been reading a book by a guy called Dilip Hiro. It's called "Secrets and Lies". While there are (I guess) scores of books on the Iraq war, this guy has been covering the Middle East and that area since the mid 70's. He also brings a deep knowledge of their culture to bear on his writing. I had read (ages ago) a book by him on Bush Senior's War on Iraq, and I found that when I travelled to Qatar years later, his ideas on their "modus vivendi" were dead on.

You are soooo terribly right about respect for the individual being a necessary component of success. In cultures such as the Middle East and South Asia, material possessions are secondary. Everything is around respect. Respect an elder, and he will go out of his way to help you, especially the bureaucracy. Scorn him, or ignore him and you are in pretty deep trouble.

I found the same thing worked with old project managers in the UK, and any number of my clients....

Respect, Respect, Respect... and exceeding expectations.

Posted by Arun Sadhashivan at November 10, 2005 1:51 PM

Have you read A Bell For Adano by John Hersey, a Pulitzer Prze winner right after WW2, a lot of this reminds me of that story. It is worth the read. Good posting, encouraging!

Posted by Michael Wagner at November 10, 2005 7:33 PM

Needless to say you find me agreeing this issue itself is indeed simple. People and the language used is what make it complex. viagra 100mg pfizer

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Arun - thank you so much - I just love that respect comment - anything can be achieved through respect. Respect your staff, respect your customers and respect your colleagues - show any of them disrespect and you will be found out.

My latest Simplicity mantra is;

Have faith in your own ability;
Have humility;
Have hope;
Never boast;
Allow time;
Never give up;
Always do your homework.

Posted by Trevor Gay at November 11, 2005 3:19 AM

Tom, there are reports in the Nigerian press that you were invited to our country, accepted the invitation and then, cancelled at the last minute.

Would you be kind enough to set the records staright?

Posted by Paul Disu-Lord at November 11, 2005 6:50 AM

Yes. We must be the change we want to see in order to bring about that fortress of democracy in the middle east. Unfortunately, we (Reps and Dems; Conservatives & Libs) spend all our time and energy gain-saying, nay-saying, and stabbing each other in the back. The possible results of our efforts in Iraq are so enormous, but I am saddened daily by those "leaders" in our counrty who see it as nothing more than a method to achieve a little bit more notoriety or temporary "power." And, as a people, we are NOT the change we want to see. It is true that the anti-Iraq war folks find a ready audience of citizens who believe that since "Saddam was no real threat to the US, so we should have left him alone." To me, that's just not what it means to be an American. That's the same as watching your neighbor's family get slaughtered by criminals and saying that you shouldn't get involved because they weren't any "threat" to you or your family. If we, as a people, don't overcome our selfishness, we will never understand how much we can really accomplish with efforts like the Iraq war. OK, fire at will, I've said my piece...

Posted by Mike at November 11, 2005 7:14 AM

In our organization, the leader who does not provide to his/he team the "freedom to do his or her absolute best" creates a succession void where only the leader is confident and competent to make decisions. Competent? Yes, because all the competent potential leaders flee, seeking a place to spread their wings.

Posted by Brad Respess at November 11, 2005 9:14 AM

It seems the central theme is "respect." Gee, what a foreign concept. Except that it is central to all of our ideas of what makes a successful relationship - family, customer, employee, service staff at the hotel I am staying at. Probably related concepts would be "civility in disagreement," and "seeking to understand, then to be understood."

I guess the problem is that I'm the only one who gets it. Everybody else is "clueless."

Posted by Donald Brown at November 11, 2005 12:00 PM