What an article I got
a came across this only today i.e.27th Jan 2013 but published on 24th
Jan 2013. Serendipity itself is a prompting by some unknown sources, if we are
not too fussy ideologically or do not mind giving credit to some unknown
element we can ascribe that to some
divine vibration and label it as god if we wish to. But undoubtedly it is a
reminder to us that all life on this planet and elsewhere are interconnected,
interactive either actively or passively and interdependent and in this scheme
of things we can neither deny nor defy the importance of anything or anyone. This
is precisely what one of the great philosophical system teaches in a nut shell
as, "The spirit of Advaita is not to keep away from anything, but to keep in tune with
everything." - - Swami Chinmayananda. I could see this [serendipity
and interconnectedness] as a fact because unintentionally I posted in Jan2013
on my face book wall the following two pictures with sayings and observations
Intellectual Curiosity and the Military Officer
Journal Article | January 24, 2013
“To this day I still have the instinct that the treasure, what one needs
to know for a profession, is necessarily what lies outside the corpus, as far
away from the center as possible. But there is something central in
following one’s own direction in the selection of readings: what I was given to
study in school I have forgotten; what I decided to read on my own, I still
remember.”
-Nassim Nicholas Taleb
-Nassim Nicholas Taleb
A degree doesn’t make you smart. A formal education doesn’t make
you wise. But without that piece of paper from somewhere, you won’t get
promoted. Just turn that box green, and to the promotion board, your
intellectual merit is validated.
But should it? Recently, the age old military debate of whether a
technical or humanities degree makes a better warfighter has again
reared its head. Both sides are right – and wrong. They
each also miss the point about what continuing education in a strategic
framework really means.
Anecdotal examples from some historic and present warfighters give a
confusing picture when trying to validate either position.
John Boyd got a degree in industrial engineering, with a detour into
thermodynamic physics along the way, and revolutionized military strategic
thought. VADM James Stockdale went to Stanford and took a Masters in
International Relations, but spent most of his time absorbing Stoic philosophy,
laying the groundwork for his remarkable leadership in the hell of the Hanoi
Hilton. ADM James Stavridis earned a PhD in International Relations from
Tufts, and is one of the most innovative flags to ever have served.
General James Mattis attended the National War College, and will forever be
recognized as both a remarkable warrior and cunning diplomat.
Aside from the first name James, what set these remarkable military
leaders and intellects apart? What about their respective educations
assisted their rise? Was it the degree they took or something more?
To be sure, a degree is a signaling device of higher intellectual
abilities. Only 8
percent of the American population holds a
Master’s Degree or higher. Furthermore, the military at large is
better educated than the general population, as Tim Kane, most recently of
Bleeding Talent fame, pointed
out in 2005. Yet, these general trends hardly matter when it comes
to strategic brilliance.
The very term “brilliance” implies an outlier; someone well removed from
the intellectual norm of society. It is in this rarified region that our best
battlefield commanders and strategic minds reside. It is also the place
where the degrees they have are secondary to the minds that earned them.
And this is where we find the defining characteristic of the strategic
thought leaders throughout the ages. It is an intellectual curiosity
punctuated by a desire to learn as much as possible from as many people as
possible in as many areas as possible as often as possible.
You have to want to learn to learn. If you are intellectually
curious, you will go in search of answers – often finding them where you least
expect them, growing wiser along the way. Your curiosity will lead you to
discover the world is more than either Mechanical Engineering or International
Relations. It is the complex interaction of both, and more.
The formal degree, if any, is just a basic foundation. Real
learning occurs over years of voracious reading and concerted, sometimes
heated, interaction with other minds. Show me an inspiring leader, and I
will show you a continuous learner who experiments with the ideas they have
absorbed.
General Mattis, the Warrior Monk, is
famous for this. At one point, he had a collection ofover 7,000
volumes in his personal library. Vice Admiral Stockdale’s
intellectual foundation, which allowed him to survive Vietnam, was rooted in
extensive studies, and debates, over the Greek and Roman classics. John
Boyd read everything under the sun, combining philosophy, physics, economics
and sociology, among others, to create his defining works. Admiral Stavridis
is a self-professed “big reader
of fiction” in addition to his daily, extensive intellectual diet.
Reading, however, is just the beginning. It, to paraphrase Peggy
Noonan of Reagan speechwriting fame, is the sowing of intellectual
capital. It is the synthesis of all these ideas, and the vigorous
interaction with others about these ideas, that create a mind able to tackle
the biggest problems.
Far too often military people live in their own bubble, seeing little
need to interact with the civilian society they protect. Much of this has
to do with too many of our duty stations being located far from intellectually
vibrant and innovative metropolises. Even if we wanted to be engaged in
local non-military friendships, it’s difficult to do so in places like Twenty
Nine Palms.
Although anecdotal, one of the most intellectually liberating
experiences of my life was PCSing from sleepy and rural Lemoore, California to
San Diego – a hub of biotech and entrepreneurial culture. I knew nothing
of either industry, but merely having the opportunity to interact with those
different than me sparked numerous unanticipated collaborations, and a greater
understanding of the world at large.
Being exposed to more people and more ideas inherently increases
serendipity. Serendipity, in turn, creates exponential opportunity
directly proportional to the amount of intellectual preparation already
undertaken. That opportunity leads to action, and sometimes,
revolutionary change.
The most potent collaborations match people of different temperaments
and talents together, leveraging the best of each for a sum far greater than
their constituent parts. Strategists, by their very nature, are experts
at connecting disparate dots into a cohesive whole, necessarily linking people
together to accomplish this. Again, the foundation for all of this is
rigorous, diverse and continuous intellectual curiosity.
So, what’s the prescription for educating a future strategist?
Degrees are fine, but insufficient and end at some point.
Therefore, learn everything you can, formal or otherwise, and maximize
serendipitous relationships. Meet with people you wouldn’t normally
interact with. Start understanding the people outside the military silo –
because in 21st century warfare, the greatest adversaries will likely not be
professional warriors.
Read, but fail fast – namely, if something bores you, move on to
something that doesn’t. Learn things as they become relevant to the
problems or interests in your given stage of life. Read on a variety of
topics, to include non-military fiction. The human condition is
better revealed in Hugo’s Les Miserables and Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo
than nearly all psychology textbooks combined.
Engage in frequent discussions with those you disagree with.
Create twitter friendships anddebate the
merits of military ethics. Push the envelope, and be willing
to take heat for crazy ideas like melding
MBA programs with the Naval War College. You might be wrong –
but your ideas will evolve, adapt, and become better in proportion to the
frequency of their exposure to reality.
The tricky part for bureaucracies evaluating talent is that this is not
easily quantifiable. There is no metric the board recorder can point to
in the Tank when your name pops on the screen to say, “he gets it.” You
won’t get your “intellectual curiosity qualification” alongside your JPME II
because it is an ever evolving, ongoing process.
Rather, it will, and does permeate itself in more subtle ways.
The intellectually curious officer will find innovative ways to solve
problems. He will have built relationships beyond his service and
community to create collaborations and get things done more effectively.
He will be better able to empathize with their people better. He will be
more attuned to the military and non-military goals of his subordinates.
Most importantly, when an adversary arrives in a form that was unanticipated,
he will be able to draw upon years of education tested not in the classroom,
but in the real world.
In short, a given degree is of minor consequence. Strive for
life-long learning, be curious, and turn off the damn TV so you can do
something productive. General Mattis, by the way,has never
owned one either.
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