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Article criticizes an general named Fredenall, saying his lack of combat experience doomed him. He was basically a military MBA type. > After service in the Ph
by stubybubs 3y ago
Article criticizes an general named Fredenall, saying his lack of combat experience doomed him. He was basically a military MBA type.
> After service in the Philippines and other overseas and stateside assignments, Fredendall shipped out to the Western Front with the 28th Infantry Regiment in August 1917, four months after the American entry into World War I. He held a succession of instructor assignments in the army's schools in France, and commanded one of its training centers. He built a record as an excellent teacher, trainer, and administrator, and ended the war as a temporary lieutenant colonel.
This article says look at all these great wartime generals, they had in the trenches experience, and lists Eisenhower, saying this:
> Eisenhower was desperate to get into combat, but he finally made it to France only as the war was ending.
Eisenhower did not see combat, he trained troops, just like Fredenall. He was basically also a military MBA type.
Very similar backgrounds. So maybe the difference between them was... talent? It undermines the authors point rather than making it. Most of the American generals all went to West Point! They might as well be Ivy Leaguers!
The part about the 5 extremely successful tech execs not graduating it disingenuous. Look at the schools they did attend, even if they didn't graduate. They had connections. They had family money. Gates and Zuckerberg for sure. Ted Turner went to private schools and then Brown. Jobs, sure, one in a million. Maybe Ellison too. So that was also talent? Kind of a mess here.
Basically this article is terrible. You need talent, plus agency, funding, C-level support. Seems more like they're not actually letting talent do what it's supposed to do?
- AlbertCory 3y agoEllison didn't graduate. Nor Gates or Zuck. We're talking about top-school MBA's here, which was the topic (Enron). As for Eisenhower & Fredendall: you can't really be serious. Fredendall was not a wartime general, nor was he a good planner. Plus, he was a coward who refused to listen to people, and disposed his troops ignorantly. This section was a discussion of wartime vs. peacetime generals, not MBA's.
- stubybubs 3y agoI don't think you understood the article or what I wrote. I understand that Ellison, Gates, and Zuckerberg didn't graduate, then I said they still attended top schools. They had connections. MBAs at top schools are only really worth it if you're under 25, and even then, only for the connections. The entire list has almost nothing to do with having talent or not, or having an MBA or not. The key is almost exclusively to be born into an at least somewhat wealthy family so that you can buy connections. Or if you're not rich you have to work super hard and be lucky. Very few people really believe getting an MBA requires talent. I don't really understand how this connects to most of those people being talented or not. They all became the CEOs of enormously successful companies. Maybe this list would make more sense if you said, look at these awful CEOs, they had no talent even though they had MBAs? Neither Eisenhower nor Fredenall were wartime generals before WW2. Fredenall actually became a general before Eisenhower. Both performaned administrative work and training between the wars; neither directed troops in combat. Fredenall actually did command troops in combat, although as noted it was disastrous. Important to note, Eisenhower actually selected Fredenall to command those troops. I don't really see how Eisenhower was less of a peacetime general than than Fredenall. It's a really strange comparison to make. The article has a bunch of points it tries to make and I just picked two of them that didn't make any sense.
- Hermitian909 3y ago> I don't think you understood the article or what I wrote. Funnily enough you appear to be responding to the article's author. If you notice his other comments in this thread its apparent his reading comprehension is not at a level that produces productive conversation.
- stubybubs 3y agoGolly. It's just hard to get a grip on anything in it.
- AlbertCory 3y agofunny how "lack of reading comprehension" seems to be the favorite synonym for "doesn't agree with me." Because if I did comprehend, obviously I'd agree with you.