"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. "   Theodore Roosevelt

Long before I started AOG, I read this quote hanging on the wall in a small office, in a non-descript building on Hunter Army Airfield near Savannah, GA.  It was in a simple frame and stamped with a unit crest that signified that it had been presented by those who truly understood what it meant to be in the arena. It stopped me in my tracks the first time I read it.  The context at the time was that I was in my first arena, learning the great enthusiasms, about victory and how to dare greatly.  I wasn't alone. I was surrounded by others also in the arena, like minded volunteers for the extreme.  Brothers who helped define it and share it.  They were, as we were reminded daily, "Modern Day Spartans". 

We knew that we were doing the unspoken deeds that most would never know or care about, and that quiet knowledge was the glue that bonded us.  The coolest thing was the recognition that we were all dedicated to the cause, the mission and pushing the limits.  There was no chance of finding a cold or timid soul in that company.  We were, united, of our own accord.

Years later, I find myself in another, different arena. Full of stress, chaos and disunity of thought and action.  When I look around, I sometimes barely recognize my environment or the people in it.  There are those who know neither victory nor defeat, nor ever will.  Those who work in ways that are unfamiliar, ways that are learned from years of modest enthusiasm, selfish devotions or just simply untrue causes.  Those who seek to divide, maintain the status quo and advance themselves by a willingness to endure a soul crushing existence of middle of the road word and deed.  They promulgate a negative bandwidth of communication and endeavors aimed at anything but actual success, victory or the team life.

It is in these times when I must retreat from this arena.  To seek the solace in the familiar feel of the wilderness, of a ruck, wet feet and a time hack.  To move fast, light and far.  To rage against the normal limits that exist somewhere between victory and defeat.  To feel pain, discomfort and to remember the truth that it makes me stronger.  To seek the undiscovered parts of my soul in this world as I find new ways to test myself, lead others and exceed the standard.  To find familiar bonds of brotherhood, new missions and to keep faith with the accord of warriors that are entering their first arena.

These are the times that you must focus on keeping the fire of your soul stoked. Question the status quo.  Liberate yourself from the oppression of predefined boundaries.  Go beyond normal limits.

Are you in the arena?

B-rad
ADVENTURE OPERATIONS GROUP

Saturday After Action

For me, Saturday is often a great time to conduct a personal after action review from the previous week.  Like many in the US, my weeks most often resemble combat operations, and I am routinely engaged in pushing aggressively forward on multiple fronts and responsible for managing disparate priorities from competing groups of stakeholders on large scale projects. 

It is near impossible to move forward in any organization, effectively and aggressively without sustaining setbacks and failures on a regular basis.  Most often our failures are not large single events, but rather a collection of smaller cumulative micro failures that can chip away at our motivation and effectiveness with such a low signature that it's almost hard to recognize.

Saturday mornings are usually a good time to grab a cup of coffee and reflect on the collection of victories and failures I racked up during M-F combat.  I always think back to the many AAR's and post op debriefs I've sat thru.  Most people would be surprised to sit thru an actual AAR conducted by an elite unit or team.  Even on major operations involving complex planning and coordination, most de-brief points highlighting failures usually fall into one of the following categories:

• perception
• discipline
• communication
• technical difficulty

Perception- It's hard to remember a mission that either myself or anyone I know has ever been on where the actual conditions on the ground did not differ in some way from what was expected during planning.  Great teams and individuals train hard and are expected to adapt.  If you are in a Corporate Combat Unit, keep in mind that perception is one of the most difficult things to manage or understand among people who are normally not cohesive and trained to a common standard.

Discipline-  This one is easy.  At some point on every mission, one of us could have done something better.  Sometimes we get lucky and no one saw our minor mistake, and we dodged Mr. Murphy, but this is one I see often among many civilian organizations.  High degrees of discipline do occur, but are often by chance or due to a few rock stars who hold the line.  Corporations can and should train staff to be disciplined and aligned around solid core principles and time tested processes.

Communication- Think about all of the communication engagements that you will be a part of M-F in any organization.  The total number is staggering.  When they don't go well, they take a toll on both parties.  Often times two people on a team or in a corporate setting will quietly harbor small doses of anger and resentment for hours or days after an unpleasant communication engagement with a co worker or boss.  Failures of communication are the main reason for many of the real set backs and near misses in modern combat operations and among Special Operations.  Communication skills have to be constantly trained on and refined, de-briefed to the smallest detail.  You have to communicate well, period.

Technical difficulties-  "Comms went down", is probably one of the most recycled phrases in military de-briefs.  It's just a fact of life, and probably won't change until SOCOM, or TRADOC buys APPLE or Samsung and puts them in charge.  Fortunately most of us in Corporate Combat units get thru our work days without experiencing technical difficulties that completely derail our operations.  But when they do occur, realize that you must fall back on solid, basic and simple techniques to communicate and keep your team moving forward. 

These are just a few easy points to consider for your Saturday morning de-brief.  To learn more check out:  ADVENTURE OPERATIONS GROUP

Also, to hear David Rutherford talk about how to turn failure into success, check out this weekends Froglogic Radio Show at:  Froglogic Failure to Success

Have a great Saturday!
B-Rad and the AOG team.
Out.