Teamwork

The phrase “everything starts and stops with leadership” is something I’ve heard many times and has different meanings. The phrase means everyone in the organization understands their roles and responsibilities; also, the individual within the team is empowered to take charge in the absence of orders. In other words, individuals in the organization are willing […]

Managing Chaos “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity” -Sun Tzu During my first tour during Operation Iraqi Freedom (Mosul, Iraq), I was a Quick Reaction Force (QRF) team leader. Throughout our operations, the QRF team was thrown into chaotic, stressful, uncertain, rapidly evolving situations. Nevertheless, as the QRF team leader, I had […]

In military and law enforcement training, individuals must go through rigorous training scenarios in which they are subjected to potentially life-threatening situations. Training must be demanding and simulate mission conditions as much as possible while keeping safety in mind. These scenarios are supposed to measure a person’s ability to (not only react to save their […]

Retired General Stanley McChrystal (best known for his command of Joint Special Operations Command in Iraq) wrote a book called Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World in which he emphasized that we live in “a rapidly changing world, marked with increased speed and dense interdependences, meaning that organizations everywhere are […]