We Left the Lights On: The Tormentor

Trust me when I say that I am as sick and tired as everyone else when it comes to hearing about the latest national epidemic:  bullying.

I guess I simply accepted the so-called bullying that I experienced in grade school, middle school, and high school as a right of passage.  It built character or increased my resilience or something.

Photo:  Ah, my favorite character-building pastimes:  bullying and shoveling snow.

I am sure that my parents struggled watching me make friends that would ultimately turn into monsters and mean girls (seriously), but I am better for it in hindsight.

Video clip:  They seriously wouldn't have made this movie if it wasn't true...

High school really wasn't that bad and maybe I was even a bully at times, but only a goofball or nerdy one.

Video clip:  I'd stuff you in your lock-ER for not doing your homework!

I encountered some tough times at the Academy, but never felt bullied or put down or singled out for unfair treatment.  By the time I graduated I assumed I was in the clear.  Professional workforce here I come!

Things were generally fine until I went to Bagram.  I mean I was laughed at in meetings back at Lakenheath, but I was a second lieutenant and I was an idiot.  Briefings and taskers were certainly a right of passage and I figured that as long as I kept doing my best I would eventually dig myself out of that hole.  I mean the military really can't fire you and if you don't get a DUI or stop breathing, then you will eventually make rank (c.f. Captain Cockeyes) so I at least had that option going for me.

But in Bagram I couldn't do anything right.

I'll admit that I bombed my first briefing, but the rash of required pre-briefs to the pre-briefs to the actual briefings that I had to do were pure torture.  This was only required of me (no other lieutenants or captains) by the squadron commander, Major Tormentor.  They were one-on-one and were absolute misery with written and spoken reports required to prove I was doing as I was told.

I was cussed at and told I was stupid and incompetent and pathetic, but when I finally wised up and brought the Chief along none of this ever took place.  The major became affable and would even invite us to midnight chow and let us borrow his truck if necessary.

I felt like a fake and a whiner.  Every instance of torment that I relayed to the leadership team around me seemed implausible.  Who would believe a dumb second lieutenant over a major anyway?

There was one time when an individual had a seizure along the path between the buildings and I responded since I saw everything happen.  When the major showed up he told me to get lost.  Seriously.  I had gotten someone to call the medic and rolled the guy on his side and I was told to leave.  I didn't because I am obstinate, but COME ON!

Article:  I sucked; I'll admit that much.

Major Tormentor eventually showed his true colors one night barging into the unit and screaming and screaming and then trying to slam the door.  He actually tried to slam the door twice.  I had no idea what he tried to say and only remember laughing hysterically with the senior after he stormed out of the building without the sound effect of a door slamming shut.

He remained generally prickly and, besides giving some really terrible roll calls (to his own discredit), proved to be no worse than a bad bout of gas:  uncomfortable, but temporary.

Fortunately, despite all the crap leaders I had the distinct pleasure of working for, he remains only one of two that I might still hit with my car given the chance.  So that's a win for the Air Force!

It would be another two years until I met my next bully and entered a new dimension of leadership hell, but that story will have to wait since I am not quite done with Bagram yet.

NOTE:  That vehicular manslaughter threat is not real; it is just for storytelling purposes!

When is it time to cut your losses?

At what point should an organization stop plowing resources into a:

(1)  Project?

(2)  Process?

(3)  Person?

There are numerous examples of projects that drain money, time, and effort from a company with no measurable benefit to the bottom line.  These programs essentially take on a life of their own as the sacred cow of some mid-level manager that is no longer able to confront the sunk costs of the once well-intentioned project and stop the bleeding before the patient dies.  And so this illogical decision-making process continues until it becomes the source of some HBS or McKinsey case study.

The sacred cow phenomenon is present in most industries, but is most egregious in the defense sector with taxpayer dollars fueling both outrageously expensive projects as well as an archaic acquisitions process.

There is no better example of this failure to cut projects and reform processes than the absence of the F-35 at last week's Farnborough International Air Show.

While the F-35 has become the poster child for inconceivable cost overruns and never-ending production delays, this latest incident completes the program manager's performance trifecta with confirmation of poor product quality (P&W engines in this particular case).

In light of this most recent embarrassment, one might expect the Pentagon to reassure the public that future projects would avoid such recurring process pitfalls.

Alas, the executive officer for the F-35 program went on the record to explain that he didn't see the absence of the fighter jet at the air show as a negative event.  He seemed completely unaware of the large amounts of poor publicity around the quality issues and even suggested that sales of the aircraft would not be impacted by this one missed appearance.

Seriously?

Photo:  I wonder, is this photo sufficiently representative of General Officer la-la land?

And therein lies the other problem with large, bloated bureaucratic institutions:  the people.

Somewhere within the promotion system people with no talent come to believe that they have undeniable leadership abilities.  They are fed a steady stream of disillusioned thinking from other subpar "leaders" and so perpetuate a vicious cycle that culminates in feeble-minded yes-men that at best get floated along and at worst get someone killed (c.f. Captain Sobel).

So while it's easy to point at the F-35 as a money pit, the real sacred cow is continuing to invest in the development of ineffective leader-managers.

And that's where I'll turn to next...