The Use of Rules: QMN041
Martial Mental Models: Thursday, 20 June
(Today’s report is a 7 minute read)
BLUF: Sets of rules tell you a lot about groups of people - they support a common identity, provide guidance in unclear situations, and help justify actions within a group. Rules - essentially what the members of a given organizational culture can and cannot do - can help define that culture more than anything else. I found a couple very unique sets of military cultural rules in the past few years that really illustrate organizational priorities.
Brady here. One of my favorite sets of cultural artifacts are rules. Rules tell you a lot about groups of people - what they appreciate, what they despise, what they seek, and even why they exist. Rules support a common identity, provide guidance in unclear situations, and help justify actions within a group. Rules - essentially what the members of a given organizational culture can and cannot do - can help define that culture more than anything else.
Organizational culture is very important for military organizations - indeed many outsiders know of military groups simply through an aspect of a strong military culture. Over the past few years I’ve found two sets of rules - very different in nature but essentially similar in role - that illustrate two different military cultures in space and time. One is for brand new Marine Corps officers in the Second World War, and the other is for Noncommissioned Officers (NCOs) in the 1980s and 1990s. One was published by a military organization - the other was handwritten by an individual and then xeroxed and passed around. I'll briefly examine both with a few key examples here.
“Thou Shalt Not: Hints to Newly Commissioned Officers”
Published by the Marine Barracks in Quantico, Virginia in the early 1940s, this small booklet served as a cheat sheet for new leaders. The Marine Corps is known for its strong and insular culture, and as United States was beginning to fight the Second World War, it had to grow the organization and very quickly select and build new leaders who still supported that culture. Quickly scaling up while maintaining culture is a very difficult thing - and this set of rules attempts to support that effort.
The rules here range from the personal:
DON’T walk arm in arm in public. The relationship doesn’t matter; don’t do it.
To the professional:
DON’T be familiar with your N.C.Os., however efficient they may be. Young officers need great care when handling experienced N.C.Os. Keep your dignity. Common sense and understanding on both sides will simplify matters.
The dated:
DON’T enter or remain in the “bar” of a hotel if rank and file are present. The “lounge” is more suitable for officers.
And the eternal:
DON’T go to your own meals unless you are satisfied in your mind that those you are responsible for are being properly fed.
This list describes the need for the Marine Corps officer to maintain order and discipline under all circumstances - both in training at home and in the field. There’s a lot about governing personal behavior and bearing - especially how to address and show respect to both subordinates and superiors. Not all training or manuals can conceivably cover every facet of the leaders’ life, but it looks like this set of rules seeks to fill the gap.
Don Purdy Rules to LIVE By (Don’t Forget Nothin!)
This list was handwritten by Ranger Command Sergeant Major (retired) Don Purdy. Purdy was a combat veteran of Vietnam who served as senior noncommissioned officer across many infantry units in the 1980s and 1990s. He was widely known for his maniacal focus on realistic combat training, and given his experiences it made sense. Purdy’s example - and his rules - made a profound effect on not just his organizations, but on those across his community. Many NCOs I worked with over the years knew about him and his singular focus. I found a xeroxed copy of his handwritten list in 2007 and transcribed it ten years later. It’s very direct and concise - it’s meant to govern the behavior and focus of infantry noncommissioned officers as they lead soldiers in training for combat.
The rules range from the broad:
Discipline, Discipline, Discipline. It’s too late when the fighting begins.
To the specific:
Silence is golden. Learn to whisper. Even on radios.
A bayonet is a weapon. Train your soldiers to use it to kill the enemy.
When moving across the kill zone remove weapons from enemy bodies.
The profound:
Infantrymen must have the heart of a lion. Leaders (NCOs) must develop that heart. The infantry has no room for the weak or faint of heart.
Talk to your soldiers about the reality of there (sic) mission (Life and Death).
To the brutal:
Not everyone can be an Infantry soldier. Get rid of the weak.
When searching enemy bodies strip them and put the clothing in a trash bag.
About image:
Never smile for photographs.
And about life:
Keep the plan simple and violent.
Never pass a threat.
If you think something is wrong it is.
You can see some of the hard lessons that Purdy learned in combat through his advice - no doubt across a long career he saw a lot of mistakes and a lot of successes. What really comes through is his intense focus on preparing for combat. As with Thou Shalt Not there’s a gap between what you learn in an institutional training environment and what you come to understand after doing a job in the field - and these two sets of rules seek to fill many of those gaps. The training is documented in doctrine, and the field knowledge often rests in the minds and hearts of those doing the work - what we see here is the bridge between the two.
What stands out to me about these sets of rules is that they’re sufficiently personal and detailed enough to illustrate the priorities of an organizational culture. Look around at the organizations you belong to - do they have rules either official or unofficial? Did someone take the time to write them down? What happens if they’re broken? What do they tell you about the priorities of your organization? (BJM)
WE ALL ARE. ACT ACCORDINGLY: Your Professional Decline Is Coming (Much) Sooner Than You Think (29 min) “Dedicating more time to relationships, and less to work, is not inconsistent with continued achievement. “He is like a tree planted by streams of water,” the Book of Psalms says of the righteous person, “yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.” Think of an aspen tree. To live a life of extraordinary accomplishment is—like the tree—to grow alone, reach majestic heights alone, and die alone. Right? Wrong. The aspen tree is an excellent metaphor for a successful person—but not, it turns out, for its solitary majesty. Above the ground, it may appear solitary. Yet each individual tree is part of an enormous root system, which is together one plant. In fact, an aspen is one of the largest living organisms in the world; a single grove in Utah, called Pando, spans 106 acres and weighs an estimated 13 million pounds.” (BJM)
OR MAYBE WE’RE NOT, WITH ENOUGH CASH: Five Scary Ways Billionaires are Investing in Immortality (4 min) “While we all know that billionaires control a substantial amount of the world's wealth – in fact, current projections see the richest 1% controlling 2/3 of it by 2030. But, did you know that when they aren't investing in space shuttles, underground Hyperloops and sprawling tech campuses, the super-rich are looking at a range of mind-blowing methods to increase their lifespan? Commercial Finance Experts ABC Finance have been digging into some of the strangest and most extravagant approaches billionaires have turned to in their quest for immortality (or at least get a few more years in than the rest of us).” (KSA)
Remarks Complete. Nothing Follows.
KS Anthony (KSA) & Brady Moore (BJM)