Military Review English Edition September-October 2013 | Page 63

SOLDIER MYTHS

Those who assent to everything the “prince” says encourage further erosion of his ability to see error. The cycle toward incoherence becomes ever more pernicious as blind spots become entrenched. Leader and led immerse themselves in self-deception. The authors call this the “unlimited deference syndrome,” a condition that leads to real problems with managing agreement toward the best outcomes. Even in the formal process of studying operational options, anticipating what will please the boss (via doctrine and built-in assumptions) is often the main shaper of proposed courses of action. In the authors’ experience, the courses of action a staff presents the commander are usually just shades of the anticipated. In going through formal motions of “analysis,” everyone loses track of the fact that foregone, unacknowledged conclusions are driving the process. Thus, flawed discourse yields flawed options. The rise of “design” in U.S. military planning is a tacit acknowledgement that this problem exists. Design methodology is an attempt to correct an institutional inability to properly frame problems, but it probably will not change the underlying problem of unlimited deference.22 Enshrining self-deception. Military doctrine encourages self-deception via key articulations within each service’s codified ethos. Consider the Army’s well-worn leadership rubric “Be—Know— Do,” which was recently revamped as “attributes” (who leaders are and what they know) and “competencies” (what leaders do, because of their attributes).23 The sequence of concepts in both of these frameworks leads people to think that “being” something precedes “doing” anything to achieve it. It reverses Aristotle’s virtue ethics, from which this approach was originally derived.24 Aristotle wrote: “The virtues arise in us neither by nature nor against nature, but we are by nature able to acquire them, and reach our complete perfection through habit.”25 Acquiring virtues is how character develops. Only when one develops the knowing habit of right action, does one become good. One learns, one does, and one becomes. Habit eventually forms the person one has educated oneself to become. So, for instance, one cannot simply pronounce oneself a “warrior” or “professional” and reasonably believe it must thus be so. Whether one is a philosopher, mason, physician, muleskinner, or machinist, only
MILITARY REVIEW ? September-October 2013

training and habit lead to the realization of what one becomes, to being. One expression of the pervasive be-do philosophy is the Army Values rubric. This rubric contributes to self-deception by convincing people that they are good, an ethical member of a values-based organization, even though it does very little to actually encourage right action. For example, before the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 made “enhanced interrogatio ??t?????????????????????????????Y?????????????????????????????????????Q???????????????????????????????????()=???????????????????????????????????????????????Y?????????(+?q??????t???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Q??????????????q?????t?????????????q?????????????t???????????????????????????????????Q????????????????q??????t??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Q???????????q????????t??????????????????????????????????Q?????????????q?????t??????????????????????????????????????????q???????????????t???????????????????????????????????????????%????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????e?????????Q???????????e????????????????Q??????????????????????????Y????????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????%??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????M??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????(??((