What can we learn from war?
Leadership lessons from the front line
STRATEGY
Image: Istock
Terry Fuller
Head of Partnerships, Legal and General Modular Homes, and former Executive Director, Homes England, and Managing Director, Taylor Wimpey
Issue: 63 | December 2022
It is a modern tragedy that war has returned to the continent of Europe with Russia’s invasion earlier this year. And of course conflict continues in many other parts of the world – Yemen, Myanmar, Mali, Ethiopia and more. But notwithstanding the tragedy of war, are there lessons from military strategy and tactics that can – paradoxically – be productively applied in other spheres? A visit to the Surgeons Hall Museum in Edinburgh for instance brings home the reality that many advances in medicine have occurred in response to terrible conflicts over centuries. Terry Fuller reflects below.
“I said, war, good god, now, what is it good for? Absolutely, nothing Say it again, war, what is it good for?"
– War, Edwin Starr (1969)
A powerful anti ‘Nam war song.
Nonetheless, Sun Tzu on The Art of War is not only compulsory reading in global military academies; it also translates to business and politics. A recent article by Jack Watling on the Ukraine war made me reflect on whether strategies in current warfare can be analysed in terms of why there are winners and losers, and whether there is learning that can be productively applied to business.
My conclusion is that how well an army – or arguably a business or a politician – performs is down to ‘DOTMLEPF’.
Doctrine
“This is how we do things here”. The teachings, the policy and procedure manual. Do it this way and succeed. Culture of fear or growth? But the doctrine frequently lacks innovation and inspiration.
On my first day at the Homes & Communities Agency, I was given a huge policy and procedure manual by Bob. I never opened it, preferring to be ‘iconoclastic and agile’. My doctrine was ‘if we’ve never done it, we should. Now!’
In 13 years as part of the HCA and then Homes England, we never missed our team targets.
“This type of regimented approach can frequently lack innovation and inspiration.”
Organisation
Structure – centralist or regional? Delegated empowerment or exclusion? Prof Schein at MIT wrote extensively about organisations’ culture and leadership. He also highlights that there are multiple subcultures (cf. surveyors, planners, accountants, engineers etc) with their own argot. Culture eats strategy for breakfast (said Peter Drucker). So as a leader, you’d better know your organisation’s sub-cultures or be ready to fail. Bob set up regions (or companies in military terms) with corporate objectives and locally-led strategies and tactics, and while regions remained, the targets were always achieved. Go figure.
Training
The most successful armies are trained in specialist environments where attention can be focused where it is most needed; far less successful are attempts to train armies on the front line. The lesson? Get your teams out of the front line to train them. How much do you spend on training? One global company reportedly spends 6% of its turnover in this area. As a leader, I’ve trained my teams in viabilities, leadership, management, selling, presentations, CVs, and interviews – thus contributing to setting the Doctrine, and aiming to empower colleagues.
Material
IT capability (been hacked lately?) with our ubiquitous phones/laptops/pads/Teams/ Zoom/Air Space. Whatever happened to carbon paper? It’s gone the same way as outdated Russian tanks, outmanoeuvred by modern artillery. Proof, if needed, that materials are crucial to progress, performance and (I can’t think of a word to rhyme [Alice Cooper, ‘Schools Out’ 1972]).
Leadership and education
Lions and donkeys come to mind. Leadership through fear, or leadership through inspiration? Competence, honesty, forward-looking and inspiring people – according to renowned management authors Kouzes and Posner, this is what we look for in great leadership.
Who would you follow – the leader in the HQ bunker or the leader who embraces the front line? If you have not read Management and Machiavelli by Anthony Jay, then you’ve had a misspent adulthood.
The key role of a leader is to create more leaders, and a key action is coaching and mentoring (education). “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other” (JFK).
“The role of a leader is to create more leaders.”
Personnel and facilities
So, can your team members progress in a meritocracy? Has your people turnover exploded from 4% to 40% due to failing doctrine, training, material, and leadership? What do you have to do to attract and retain people if you can’t use conscription? Change the leadership! Or fail and hide your failures until the Social Housing Regulator comes knocking.
“But lord knows there’s got to be a better way.” – War, Edwin Starr (1969).
