paging the behaviourist-isti

'On the psychology of military incompetence'
by Norman Dixon. Publ. by Random House.
30 years old but a potentially illuminating read for those interested in
current military behaviour around the world.

 

I was leafing through a copy of that the other day (well, prolly a couple of
weeks ago) in an Oxfam shop in Bristol. Seemed rather good.

--
platypus

"Merely corroborative detail, intended to
give artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise
bald and unconvincing narrative."

 

platypus wrote;

The style is disarmingly humorous, but after taking it all in, I felt it
contained 'great truth'.
I've heard of nothing in past british, or current septic military
organisation to change my view.

 

I'm just about to start "The Great War for Civilization", though the
sheer bulk of the thing is making me balk a little.

 

An absolute cracker of a book.

Learn to spot the characteristics of someone displaying the 'anal
character', and use it accordingly.

I worked for some time in a mixed military/civilian environment where
no-one was below the rank of Major. After a number of false starts -
such as "GET OUT OF MY FUCKING OFFICE NOW..." followed by a couple of
minutes of more of the same [1][2] - a good friend lent me Dixon's
book. Life changed forever, as I could now use the military mindset to
my advantage....and did.

The book has far wider use in life, but especially applies to those
who are uniformed. An excellent read.

[1] Army. Navy was disdainfully superior [3]. Air Force...on those
occasions I went to see them, I couldn't get away. By far the most
technically competent, and willing to ask questions.

[2] My mistake was to have been phoned by someone working on a project
for which the Major concerned was the Project Leader. Some technical
aspect had been raised, and as the expert in the field, they rang me
to let me know. I wandered down the corridor to see said Major and
pass the information along with a briefing as to its importance. The
red-faced ranting explosion followed.

What had happened was that I had upset the military heirarchy. A Major
knows more far than a Captain, but knows nothing compared to a Lt/Col.
What I had inadvertantly done - in his terms - was to say that he
didn't know something about his project, and so accused him indirectly
of being incompetent. Since it was my job to pass on what he didn't
know, because he wasn't the expert, this was a lose-lose situation
from my point of view. His boss came along later to apologise. A final
note was that I outranked the Major anyway, even though a civilian...

[3] I once went along to see a Lt/Cdr in the building regarding a
technical matter of mutual interest that we had been working on, and
by now knowing the Navy was anal, had made an appointment. At the
approporiate moment, I appeared in her office doorway, only to see her
sitting rigidly at attention (eyes straight ahead, back rigid, arms
straight down) while her boss spoke to her. He didn't see me, but I
saw her eyes flicker in my direction, and a look of distress cross her
face at this awkward situation. I gently retreated and came back a few
minutes later. There were great sensitivities and much thin skin
about.

 

Kim Bolton wrote;

are uniformed.

I discovered the book when working for a well known british co. with a
uniformed arm organised on vaguely military lines. One of my bosses
suggested I read it to get a handle on why I kept running into brick
walls trying to get my job done.
I have to admit I used it mercilessly where I could, and made several
new enemies, which was good. I used to call him Rommel, which he
understood and, I think, appreciated. In return, he called me Paddy,
which I think was a reference to Paddy Mayne. I was never too sure at
the time if this was a compliment or not, but he always covered my back,
so it must have been.

 

Yes, Paddy Blair-Mayne was one of the early pioneers of David
Stirling's new creation, chosen because he got things done. Quite a
compliment, really! He also gets a good mention in the 'Gladiators of
WWII" series that's shown regularly on UKTV History.

But I see we both used Dixon's book in much the same way, for the same
ends, in similar circumstances....I thought I was the only one! It's
nice to meet a fellow-traveller.....;-)

 

Kim Bolton wrote;

I got the impression over the years that it's more widely read than I
first thought. Unfortunately, I now find it slightly depressing that so
many people in middle and senior management positions 'fit the profile'.
As a born optimist though, I value the 'Shakas' and the 'Wellingtons'
even more. It's just a shame they are a bit rare.

 

Champ wrote;

Christ! I hope this doesn't lead to abuse later.

 

Well, it's a sharp tool....one might occasionally see one's self in
there, to greater or lesser extent; the important thing is how to
react to the discovery......

And I'd agree about the 'bosses' thing; but then, they like the
uniformed people, select people who are like themselves, and so the
cycle is doomed to repeat.

Once upon a time a Major-General was sent along to give me a
talking-to, because I wouldn't go along with something and it was
making waves. Within something like fifteen seconds I'd reduced him,
quite deliberately, to a red-faced, angry little child. I had 'orders'
too, but they were more authoritative than his, and I couldn't be
bothered letting him down gently.

 

Kim Bolton wrote;

That's the war-time parallel. In the end, getting the job done is the
primary task, not maintaining the status quo or delicate egos. The
subtlety is in keeping people 'on-side' and avoiding collateral damage.
The greatest satisfaction in my job was in isolating damaging senior
personnel so they did less harm, without them realising. This was
inevitably seen as rebellious, misconduct and devious by some. It was,
however, among the things I was employed to do.

I hope you had someone watching your back!

 

If you pass that way again, can you pick it up please? Owen would like
it. Reimbursement will follow, natch.

--
Marina Mayes - Reading, UK. To email me remove XX from my address
SR250 - gone. BOTAFOT12, BOD#2, BOTAFOS#2
KotLBOD#s, KotLBOTAFOS#s,IMC#2, Tart#10-19, SR#3
I never give in to fear or blackmail; I always give in to temptation.
"You're a national treasure" - porl, 18.1.03

 

LOL! I had 'the law' at my back, but I was being quietly cheered on by
senior management, who wanted the same result as I did. The
Major-General resigned less than six months later - perhaps because
his pet project had blown up in his face - and I kept going for
another nine years; until retirement, in fact.

We had a chap in charge, who was a fanatic for saving public money -
any public money , it didn't matter to him what budget it was from,
even if he had no control over it, he wanted to save money from it.
Fortunately, the episode didn't concern me, but three of my colleagues
stitched him up royally.

It's a long story, but essentially foreign travel was restricted to
one representative from the organisation per meeting. Well, that's all
well and good, but experts in different technical areas can't cover
for each other, and sure enough the time came along for three people
to do the Australia trip. Boss put his foot down, but finally gave
permission to send the three chaps provided costs were limited to a
set amount, much smaller than requirements dictated. By clever
manoevering, and OK-ing every stage with the boss, the three wound up
making about a grand each from the trip, and had a free week's holiday
in Sidney to boot, apart from the work they were sent out to do. Total
cost was far more than doing it properly. That's what anal retentivity
can do for you, if you play the game. Boss wound up as a
laughing-stock.