Saturday, December 28, 2002

Band of Brothers - The Issue of Unit Cohesion in the Face of the Politically Correct Western Military organizations have been under pressure for decades to be more "inclusive". On the eve of war, can we tell ourselves that this is a realistic view? Is not a sense of brotherhood the essence of military performance? Why do men die in battle? Why do men in battle do extraordinary things? The attached article delves deeply into this question "In Mr. Spielberg's movie, Captain Miller is given the mission of removing a paratrooper, Private Ryan (Matt Damon), from harm's way because all his brothers have been killed in action. Ryan expresses the essence of this mystical but frequently misunderstood bond when, having been found by Miller's patrol, he refuses to leave his comrades. "These are my brothers now," he says, "the only ones I have left." Readers of Shakespeare will recognize the allusion to Henry V's St. Crispin's Day speech before the battle of Agincourt: "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother." Both the St. Crispin's Day speech and Ryan's words are remarkably economical expressions of the bonds of military brotherhood, founded on mutual respect and the willingness to entrust one's life to one's comrades, that underpin the unit cohesion and the military ethos without which militaries fail in battle. To succeed in war requires a fighting force that can operate in the face of mortal peril. Such a force depends on the military virtues of leadership, physical bravery, and commitment to duty. It is doubtful that an organization motivated by Madeline Morris's "ungendered vision" would have made it ashore on Omaha Beach. Before we jettison the military ethos that has served the nation so well in the past, we must contemplate the risks of guessing wrong. Saving Private Ryan is a good place to begin" 5:50:55 PM    comment []

The Secret of Motivation - Recognition Fostering that small-business vibe means giving your people some tangible praise—and some sense of their importance to the system. In the Hewitt survey, 61% of employees at the 50 Best agreed with the statement “I receive adequate recognition beyond compensation for my contributions and accomplishments.” That compared with just 41% at companies that didn’t make our list. Betty Buysen, a veteran of the HR department at Edmonton-based Intuit Canada Ltd. (No. 8), which sells personal-finance and accounting software, says the recognition factor constantly comes up in other research. “Here we are spending millions of dollars trying to ensure that our employees are better paid when, in fact, what they’re looking for is simple recognition,” she says. Although that’s probably an oversimplification, it’s an attitude that separates the Best Companies from the rest. 11:08:30 AM    comment []