Interaction
Frontline Leadership
NOVEMBER 2010
HBR blog series, October–November 2010
92 Strategy
“Even generals have to learn to excel
7 Questions to
Stress-Test Your Strategy
Robert Simons
102 Innovation
Finding Entrepreneurial
Opportunity in Adversity
Bhaskar Chakravorti
under pressure,” Paul Sullivan says in
127 Managing Yourself
What’s Your Personal
Social Media Strategy?
Soumitra Dutta
“How Cadets Learn to Be ‘Clutch,’” a
blog post in our “Leadership Lessons
from the Military” spotlight. HBR
SPOTLIGHT PAGE 65
Leadership
Lessons from
The Military
bloggers covered topics ranging from
Extreme conditions in Afghanistan and
Iraq have become a testing ground for
adaptive management skills that every
CEO should understand.
strategy execution and training to coor-
dinating teams and carrying out the commander’s in-
tent. Some readers found that military best practices
might be too different from those in business to follow,
while others saw deep parallels and apt lessons.
“Military Skill Sets Lead to Organizational
Success,” by Chad Storlie The military
offers “[w]orld-class, combat-honed, and
expansive skill sets in strategic planning,
war-gaming (competitor-on-competitor
role play), competitive intelligence, leader
development, rigorous standard enforce-
ment, and innovation in execution.”
The military-to-organization model is prob-
lematic because of the armed forces’ rigid
chain of command and its use of disciplin-
ary sanctions for noncompliance.
Posted by Toni Hynds, President and Lead Con-
sultant, Hynds Consulting Group
The Sustainable Supply Chain
HBR interview with Peter Senge, October 2010
When asked what it takes for a company to
get serious about issues like water, energy,
and waste in its supply chain, Senge answers,
“I use the word ‘sustainability’ as little as possible because it’s
so generic; it makes people’s eyes glaze over.”
Senge raises necessary points, but
he provides little traction on how
we can begin to move forward. Why
does this implementation void ex-
ist? Sustainability prompts far less
18 Harvard Business Review January–February 2011
1568 JanFeb11 Interaction.indd 18
Although pushing decision making down
Storlie responds: As the mission’s
available resources and competitive
landscape change, military personnel
can quickly adapt while achieving the
commander’s intent—acting more, not
less, independently.
“The Strategic Corporal,” by Rye Barcott
As “the lowest ranking noncommissioned
officer in the Marine Corps,” strategic
corporals often must lead their teams
through peril without help from superiors.
“Corporals have to make quick deci-
sions, some of which can carry strategic
implications.”
enthusiasm than was once antici-
pated. The Global Reporting Initiative
tells us that a very small percentage
of companies have truly invested in
sustainability. Books and magazine
to “the lowest ranking noncommissioned
officer” might seem like a good idea, it can
result in the deterioration of the chain of
command and to very bad decisions with
awful results. For example, during the
torture of prisoners in Abu Ghraib, where
were the officers? Where was military
discipline?
Posted by Marc Brenman, Principal, Social
Justice Consultancy
The commander’s intent must be under-
stood by every leader, creating autonomy
even in small units. The Abu Ghraib debacle
was an anomaly and no more or less despi-
cable than the executive abuse of privilege
at Enron or Lehman Brothers.
Posted by David Tillman, Director of Consulting,
CGI Federal, and Retired U.S. Marine Gunnery
Sergeant
Barcott responds: The idea that decen-
tralized decision making contributed to
the tragic abuses that occurred at Abu
Ghraib is wrong. I spent some time at
Abu Ghraib in 2006 and remain troubled
by the horror that occurred there and by
the fact that our military leadership was
never held fully accountable. The abuse
did not happen because of a few corpo-
rals gone astray but because of severely
flawed leadership at the highest levels of
our government, that, through policy and
culture, created the conditions that made
the unthinkable possible.
articles tend to describe the “what” of
sustainability and avoid the “why” and
the “how.”
At meetings where sustainability initia-
tives are discussed, there is no absence
of head-nodding in response to the CEO’s
mandates. After all, sustainability will be
part of the next performance appraisal.
But that does nothing to drive true buy-in.
Naysayers should be encouraged to speak
up in these meetings—and the organiza-
tion should pay attention to their concerns.
12/3/10 3:27:24 PM
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nor the most intelligent,

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but the one most

innovation@work™
Correspondence may be edited for
space and style.

“Good Communication, Better Orders,”

by Bill Dunham “A tactical commander
facing a snap decision might have time to
responsive to change. µ
—CHARLES DARWIN

ask only the odd cursory question. But…he

will have talked to his men and colleagues…
and the discussions all go into the collec-
tive memory bank so that next time around,
the decision is slicker and the team works
better.”

It is rare for managers across teams to

meet together to discuss and learn what
has worked for them (or not).
Posted by notmd
We help you adapt.
These days, even the most successful organizations are facing new
“Four Steps to Improved Frontline Execu- and unexpected challenges. Traditional approaches to management
tion,” by Ed Barrows “A specific type of
that may have worked in a booming economy are no longer sufficient
combat order, known as the five paragraph
order, is so fundamental to the Corps’s suc- to meet the demands of a changing marketplace. At MIT Sloan, we
cess that every Marine must learn and use it prepare leaders to address today’s complexities and seize new
in the planning and execution of every mis- opportunities. Participants in our executive education programs gain
sion.” It addresses the high-level situation
the latest insights, strategies, and tools needed to navigate through
and the details of the mission’s execution.
uncertain times and position their companies for the next evolution.
The officers I know treat each decision as
though it had life or death consequences. Upcoming programs include:
These steps build effective communication,
Mar 10–11 Developing and Managing a Successful Technology and
which builds trust, ensuring alignment of
Product Strategy
the mission.
Posted by Louis Bonhomme, Project Mar 15–16 Managing Technical Professionals and Organizations
Manager and Technical Lead,
EMD Millipore Mar 17–18 Leadership Accountability and the Law
Mar 22–23 Reinventing Your Business Strategy
Mar 24–25 Building, Leading, and Sustaining the Innovative Organization
Mar 27–Apr 1 Driving Strategic Innovation: Achieving High Performance
Employees see sustainability as Throughout the Value Chain (in partnership with IMD)
a fad; investors want their return
Mar 29–30 Transforming Your Business Through IT
but know that green R&D spending
will have a short-term, negative Mar 29–30 Understanding Global Markets: Macroeconomics for
impact. On this issue, compliance Executives
spells doom. Expect that. Mar 31–Apr 1 Dynamics of Globalization
Gary R. Carini, Professor and Associate
Dean for Graduate Programs, Hankamer Mar 31–Apr 1 Managing Complex Product Development Projects
School of Business, Baylor University
Mark Dunn, Professor of Marketing,
Hankamer School of Business, Baylor
University

http://mitsloan.mit.edu/hbr
Phone: +1.617.253.7166 | Email: sloanexeced@mit.edu

1568 JanFeb11 Interaction.indd 19 12/1/10 2:33:07 PM

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