Agile defeats Brutality on the Battlefield

War isn't about the brutality

Since the beginning of this blog over ten years ago, I have been an advocate of working differently.  The IT world was and still has plenty of talented jerks.  Women and people of color are underrepresented in the ranks of Software Engineers.  Finally, LGBTQ people labor under a cloud of etiquette in the technology business, which is a shame because much of the business would not exist without the contributions of Alan Turning.  Over my career, the situation has improved, but we have significant improvements yet to achieve.  I have fought for this change my entire career.  Reform is difficult in the best of situations.  Even so, it's even more complicated when people fetishize the past that did not exist or feel threatened by people involved in decisions or creative processes.

The most exciting thing to happen in the last fifty years of American history is the gradual acceptance of the variety of people who make up the United States.  The law and public opinion witnessed the approval of the religious and those who do not believe.  Gay people can live their lives openly, and that acceptance has led to a debate about the commercialization of the gay rights movement.  Technology workers from India and Pakistan have exposed American to Muslim and Hindu cultures.  We even see women participating in politics on a level not seen before.  

The progress generates a vocal and sometimes violent backlash.  Individuals in our society struggle with dealing with different types of people with who they do not understand or identify.  Both politicians and media figures have embraced this backlash to make money and gather political power.  This week pundits Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson lamented the state of our military for being too 'woke.' Never missing an opportunity to call attention to himself, Texas Senator Ted Cruz joined the public debate.  The conversation was so disingenuous that republican representative Adam Kinzinger decided to call out Shapiro's bad faith arguments.  I decided to share the tweet below.  

Good point Ben. What branch were you? https://t.co/DA8o17zY90

— Adam Kinzinger🇺🇦🇺🇸✌️ (@AdamKinzinger) September 25, 2022

I am not a military veteran and do not even understand the daily sacrifices our service members experience.  I do have a strong background in military history and war gaming.  It gave me some insight into the changes which happened to the United States military since the war in Vietnam and the shift to an all-volunteer army.  Shapiro, Carleson, and Cruz are wrong.  Brutality and firepower do not make a military successful; instead, it is diversity, intelligence, and agility.  I have first-hand knowledge about this subject because I am hosting two Ukrainian refugees in my home.  The stories they tell about the brutality of Russian troops are chilling.  There is also widespread evidence of war crimes committed by entire Russian units.  

A modern battlefield is a place that demands grace under pressure, the ability to improvise, and finally, a will to fight, and based on what we see in Eastern Ukraine, the Russian army lacks those values and skills.  The reason is that the Russian military still thinks it is fighting the Second World War despite its tanks, artillery, and planes. 

While attending training as a product owner, the instructor said something interesting to the class.  He said, "The largest agile organization is the U.S. Army." I chuckled a bit at that notion, but he reassured the class that it was true because everyone spends time in training to do their job.  Soldiers in the field are constantly tinkering around to do their jobs better.  Finally, after a mission, military people have "after-action reports," where they attempt to understand what they can do better.  "There is no way you have a volunteer army without an Agile mindset," he said. 

It brings me to a few articles on the web.  The first is from the Atlantic this week from Phillips Payson O'Brien.  I will include his article here, but he points out that the brutal army of Russia is getting its head handed to it because the Ukrainian military is more flexible, technologically conversant, and willing to learn.  Additionally, unicorn soldiers prove that LGBTQ troops are as deadly and heroic as heterosexual troops.  

The more informative article is from agile coach Dmytro Yarmak who became a Ukrainian Military Officer overnight and February 24, 2022.  Commanding a Ukrainian artillery battery, Yarmak says many of the skills he has as an agile coach make him a better leader of troops.  Empathy, pushing decision-making down to ranks, and giving people purpose and mastery instead of orders is how he runs his unit.  It is a powerful lesson that victory belongs to the agile instead of the brutal in war.  

This blog is a bit of a departure for me.  I do not like to talk about current political events and would instead focus on the ups and downs of the business world.  The Ukraine war has lasted six months, and I can no longer ignore it and its impact on the planet and my family.  It also reinforces my belief that we can have a more sustainable, sane, and satisfying work world if we abandon notions of brutality and ignorance for something more agile.  

Just as the Cultural Support teams of the United States Army proved that women have a role in combat during the Afghanistan War, it is evident that agility on the battlefield is more critical than brutality.  Something I doubt Shapiro, Carlson, or Cruz would understand.  

Until next time.