Rating

★★★☆☆

Category

non-fiction

Read

2023-04-15

Pages

290

If you’re going to read something in the military business book genre, this is pretty good. Quite introductory, but did manage to bring new insight to familiar stories. For example, I’ve heard about Taylorism tends of times, usually to dunk on, but no one previously bothered to explain why it became so popular:

At a paper mill in Wisconsin, he was told that the art of pulping and drying could not be reduced to a science. He instituted his system and material costs dropped from $75 to $35 per ton, while labor costs dropped from $30 a ton to $8.

I liked this definition of a squad or team:

“The squad is the point at which everyone else sucks. That other squadron sucks, the other SEAL teams suck, and our Army counterparts definitely suck.” Of course, every other squad thought the same thing.

On decision making with modern technology:

Paradoxically, the seemingly instantaneous communications available up and down the hierarchy had slowed rather than accelerated decision making. Leaders who could be contacted in moments felt compelled to withhold authority on decisions of significant importance (or for which they might ultimately be held responsible).