Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Working the Problem vs Taking Credit

In the military there is this list, known as the six phases of planning:
  1. Enthusiasm.
  2. Disillusionment.
  3. Panic.
  4. Search for the guilty.
  5. Punishment of the innocent.
  6. Praise and honor for the non participant.
When I saw this quote from Indira Ganhdi, it reminded me of them.  I am not sure why.
My grandfather once told me that there are two kinds of people: those who work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was less competition there.
UPDATE:  I meant this for tomorrow and was going to save it, but apparently "published" it instead.  Thus two quotes in one day.

Regards  —  Cliff
at

2 comments:

  1. The New Englander2/09/2011 08:14:00 PM

    When I left my first active-duty command at Little Creek, they handed me a beautiful plaque that's hanging on my wall at home...at the bottom there's an inscription and it says, "The deed is all, not the glory." It's important to keep that in mind.

    Looking at the six steps, they're accurate as heck but I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Every day of a mobilization, I can jump out of bed, start my daily sprint and just push all day until I pass out from exhaustion and then do it all again.

    Someone of my same rank/grade could take the "no one drowned in their own sweat but why take the chance" approach, sort of hide and duck in the corner, and ride the time out just avoiding taskers and staying out of harm's way.

    At the end of the tour, that person will likely get the same award and will get an OER (Officer Eval Report) that would be indistinguishable from mine if the personal info at the top were removed.

    I just sort of accept this as "the way it is." I hear some of the younger guys complaining about this type of thing and I just don't get too worked up...the military is going to promote the mediocre along with the strivers...there are many great things about it, so you have to take the good with the bad..

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  2. Anonymous2/10/2011 07:41:00 AM

    I have always viewed the conundrum using a hands analogy. Clean hands always rise to the top in today's PC military. Dirty hands might, but more likely won't. Nobody likes dirty hands as they eschew a lack of sophistication and perfection....qualities revered in the high altitudes of military leadership.

    As the Ghandi quote clearly declares, there is less competition in the dirty hands group.

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