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> military minded There are different military philisophies, not all are top->down strict hierarchies. E.g. in the Prussian army of old, missions were communic
by sofixa 3y ago
> military minded
There are different military philisophies, not all are top->down strict hierarchies. E.g. in the Prussian army of old, missions were communicated through objectives (I want to achieve X, your part is to do Y, while these other guys will do Z), and execution is up to to the local officers who actually see the things as they are locally and have all the knowledge about what they need to do, how it fits in the wider plans, and are best placed to decide how to do it. Furthermore, if an office or NCO disagreed with their direct commander's orders, they could go above their head to their commander's commander to protest. Add in the general staff system where staff officers had to service in command as well as part of their training, and could counteract commander's orders, it made for a very robust and flexible system capable of adapting to evolving situations and where officers didn't hesitate to argue with their superiors, go above their heads, and even disobey orders if they really thought it made sense.
- unsupp0rted 3y agoWhat happened to the relationship if one went above an officer’s head? Would they be on their direct superior’s “hurt this person as much as possible from now on” list?
- sofixa 3y agoNot necessarily, because the direct superior knows that their direct superior is aware of the situation, and the subordinate can always escalate if they're being unfairly targeted. But there were definitely grudges formed that way.
- InCityDreams 3y agoAlso, special forces (especially the SAS) work this way. As ex-(regular) forces i understand the value of hierarchy, but getting the buy-in comes with unlimited trust in the leader (it happens) and/ or asking for opinions, and allowing decisions to be challenged, even over one's head. 'Get the result', is the request. How it is achieved is often secondary.
- hnarn 3y ago> E.g. in the Prussian army of old, missions were communicated through objectives This is called "mission-type tactics" or "mission command" (DE: Auftragstaktik): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission-type_tactics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission-type_tactics