Admiral Stavridis: Think, Read, Write and Publish, and Blog Too
In a previous post I mentioned the AFCEA/JFCOM Joint Warfighting Conference. I’ve e-mailed friends and associates more detailed thoughts on the significance of the conference. If you would like my views drop me a note and I’d be glad to share.
During the conference there were several very important messages for CTOs, including a few controversial points I’m still trying to think about how to diplomatically blog a bout. One topic I’d like to discuss now is encouragement from Admiral Stavridis, the four star USN commander of U.S. Southern Command. He strongly supports and encourages leaders to publish, and I think that is a message all CTOs should listen to.
A good summation of his call to publish is on the Signal Scape blog at:
Adm. Stavridis: Think, Read, Write and Publish
Here is a quote from that entry:
“Adm. James G. Stavridis, USN, commander, U.S. Southern Command, stepped away from the traditional IT conference speech after lunch today by talking about the need for everyone to think, read, write and publish. While it may be necessary during the 21st century to launch Tomahawk missiles, Adm. Stavridis proposed that it will be just as important for members of the military to launch some ideas.
Citing a number of military and government leaders who started their careers by being published in specialized journals such as Proceedings, Adm. Stavridis encouraged everyone in the audience to follow their lead. He also pointed out that many of those who created concepts such as maritime strategy made it a point to read, write and be published.”
He went on to say that govies should: “Get out there in the blogs. I’ll see you in the blogosphere,” he stated. He also emphasized that writing doesn’t have to be long articles. Anyone can start by writing a short response in a blog. “Start small and think big.”
I am really glad to see people who think like Admiral Stavridis make it to the top of our military. I published for much of my career and was very lucky to have bosses that allowed and encouraged that. I have to thank Admiral Wilson, for example, for encouraging me to publish “Time For a Joint Ship” in US Naval Institute Proceedings (Jan 1994). I remember others at the time telling me they frowned on folks who wrote. One senior O-6 who would later be promoted to General told me “If you have time to write an article you must not be doing your job.” Wilson was great topcover. That article allowed me to interact with several on advanced joint topics. A couple years later and article on “Intuitive Intelligence” in Defense Intelligence Journal (Fall 1997) generated a dialog with several senior intelligence professionals in OSD and also resulted in an unexpected phonecall from then Director of Naval Intelligence Admiral Jacoby. I followed that with articles on history and Information Warfare that I directly credit with landing me one of the greatest opportunities to contribute in my career (at JTF-CND), so I really appreciate the encouragement and support for writing through the years.
Now everyone in the government has a guy like Admiral Stavridis lending his support to them, and he is supportive of folks interacting in new media like blogs. Although I have never met him in person, I know he must be a GREAT leader. We need more like him.
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Great post, good point to drive home in the current & upcoming generations of leadership. Come to think of it, an excellent way (as in your case) to identify new leadership.
Thanks Lewis. Another great example that I bet Admiral Stavridis would appreciate is the way you published daily as the chief of innovation at DIA. I saw first hand how your discipline and ability to keep yourself on a daily deadline for publishing helped focus an entire enterprise. That was also a good example of a combination of e-mail push and blog/RSS pull. Next time I’m around a JWICS drop I think I’ll see if your stuff is still archived and available there.
Cheers,
Bob
I want this to work Bob, but I still think the road is long and rocky. Innovators are still crushed on a regular basis, and as the generation gap widens, we are losing some best and brightest _now_. Is the community going to be relevant in the 10-15 years it’ll take to shake off the vestiges of the old regime?
Mike, thanks for the comment. Another friend who I admire and trust was asked a hard question about change and what was needed for the community and he replied “We need a baby boomer extraction program.” He was overstating to make a point, of course, boomers like me can and do change, but to your point– if innovators are being crushed it is unhealthy for the community. I wish I knew the answer. Maybe we need more fearless mellinials in the community. Or maybe we need more folks like Stavridis?
Cheers,
Bob
Clearly you’re an anomaly (not that there is anything wrong with that).
If we don’t fix the boomer problem the churn of kids in and out of the system will just get worse. Eventually word will get back to colleges, etc. via the various social networks that you avoid the IC like the plague.
Simplest bureaucratic fix (is that redundant?) is a bullet on everyone’s OER that says “actively supports and participates in collaborative activities” or words to that effect. People respond to what they’re rated on.
I am trying to contact Commander Jerry Hendrix and I am hopeful you can help me. Jerry Hendrix was a good friend of Professor Claude A. Buss (Stanford and the NPS). A book is being research on Buss and I wish to talk with Commander Hendrix.