The pandemic has introduced uncertainties into the business environment like nothing else in recent memory. CEOs have now become responsible for critical decisions that can affect their employees and their customers’ health. What can CEOs learn from their military counterparts about forging ahead in these uncertain times?
The Troops Need Rest
The military has long understood the “human factor”—how a soldier’s frame of mind, in addition to their physical condition, affects performance. This is why during World War II, entertainers were sent to boost morale by performing for the troops. It’s also why, in the Revolutionary War, George Washington defied Congress and rested his troops at Valley Forge rather than attacking the British at Philadelphia.
Since these early days of modern military combat, understanding of the connection between morale, mental health, and family stability has developed further. The military recruits the soldier but understands that the family is part of the deal.
During the pandemic, employees worked longer hours under more demanding conditions. For many, the lines between their work and personal lives have blurred—to the detriment of the latter, in most cases. Put bluntly, they’re exhausted. So leaders must focus on restoring balance and ensuring workers get the rest they need to bounce back.
If you doubt this or if you think your staff has been fine over the past year, you’d do well to remember that mental health issues tend to appear after, not during, a crisis, just like in combat deployment. Employees may still need to come to terms with the death of loved ones, extended ill health, and ongoing changes to daily life. They may be taking a vacation or seeing family members for the first time in over a year. A little generosity and flexibility when it comes to PTO requests would be appreciated right now.
Establish a Common Operating Picture (COP)
The barrage of communication facilitated by digital media is a further contributing factor to the fatigue employees are experiencing. It used to be that information was power, but now it can be overwhelming just sorting the wheat from the chaff.
There’s a common misconception that the military is purely a “command and control” institution where troops always do what their officers tell them. But modern military institutions empower troops to take decisions within their limits of authority. One of the ways they do that is to communicate a single, clear, and shared picture of the situation—a common operating picture or COP.
Leaders must establish a single trusted source of information in times of crisis, so employees can make the best decisions within their roles. The information shared must be clear and concise, and consistently and regularly updated. Avoid sending your employees long memos they must sift through. Instead, give short, clear instructions summarizing salient points via email. Alternatively, take time to engage personally with key personnel who can then disseminate any messaging first-hand through the organization. The military employs this latter approach even when it’s dangerous to meet, precisely because it’s so effective.
Good Enough Is Good Enough
If there’s one thing the military is renowned for, it’s planning expertise. All over the world, armed services have been called on to assist with logistics in the fight against the coronavirus.
Military planners span multiple disciplines and often operate at two levels: planning for contingencies based on current conditions and planning with an eye toward future operations. Planners are familiar with setting up operations in trying conditions and under time pressure. But as conscientious as these planners are, they also know there is no such thing as a perfect plan. On the ground, unanticipated difficulties will arise.
In times of crisis, with information constantly changing, insisting on perfection will leave you stalled. It’s critical to move forward with what you know and reevaluate plans as you go. Military leaders can proceed, even when they know they could be wrong, because they are skilled at reserve planning if that proves to be the case. A “good enough” plan most often is good enough. As President Eisenhower said, “Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”
Get into the Trenches
One of the most epic military failures was the application of old warfare techniques in World War I. Around 11 million soldiers lost their lives in the war, and more than 20 million more were injured—in part because many generals and commanding officers failed to understand how newer technologies like breech-loading artillery and machine guns were changing the rules of the game.
Even barbed wire was new; the Germans used labyrinths of barbed wire to channel the human-wave attacks ordered by British and French leaders to where they’d be trapped and shot en masse by automatic fire. Their officers never saw this, based as they were in the nearest village or requisitioned mansion. So instead, they persisted in applying the tactics they had been trained in, based on cavalry and cannons.
What lessons should we learn from their failure? For one, CEOs need to “be in the trenches” in a time of crisis—because the rules of the game are changing, and what you assume about a situation may not be true. Make sure you know first-hand what your employees are facing, and have the humility to course-correct when things aren’t working.