Summer, 2017 Reading Recommendations

These Summer of ‘17 Reading Recommendations include 2 classics, 2 thrilling adventures, and a guide to use. We’ll start and end with a classic.

The summer of 2017 includes the 75^th Anniversary of the Battle of Midway.  Unquestionably one of the major contests of world military history, its tale is stunning on every level.  Walter Lord’s “Incredible Victory” is the gripping account of how it happened – a narrative history that is both comprehensive and absorbing.  Lord was one of the finest chroniclers of the big events of the 20^th Century.  “Incredible Victory” is a masterpiece that can be read in a single evening.  So settle in, be amazed, and understand how 75 years ago the course of events in the Pacific changed – yes – incredibly.   

“The Bad Ass Librarians of Timbuktu” by Joshua Hammer is a truly enjoyable and informative read.  You’ll learn about lost civilizations and, if didn’t already know, how the struggle within Islam over how to appropriately worship is centuries old.  There are storied desert cities, ancient jewel – encrusted scrolls, and heroic smugglers.  And Al Qaeda too.

Step 1: Go outside

Step 2: Put your phone away

Step 3: Look around you and find your way to a summer activity. 

If that third one is challenging, enjoy and learn about the natural world with Harvard physicist’s John Huth’s “The Lost Art of Finding Your Way.”  Its full of useful and fun information you used to, or should, know.  Richly illustrated with dozens of diagrams and drawings, pick a chapter at random to scan over and navigate with fundamental knowledge.  Summer is made to be enjoyed outside.  So, Step 1…

Winston Churchill did many remarkable things in his life.  One of his early extraordinary achievements was becoming the most famous escaped prisoner of war of the early 20^th Century.  As a very young man, as Candice Millard’s “Hero of the Empire” recounts, his daring and luck were nearly unbelievable.  Millard is a fine writer who blends deep research into enthralling story – telling.  This is simply a great beach read to enjoy.

The classic closing this list is Hannah Arendt’s “Origins of Totalitarianism”.  The closing, 3^rd volume entitled “Totalitarianism” is the complex, recommended read.  Written just after World War 2, it’s a perceptive and probing theoretical analysis, and it specifies the wellsprings and techniques of harsh government, in complete control of the population.  Looking at this over the summer will not only keep your scholarly chops honed, but will refresh some useful metrics applicable to our current times.

2 Years On – The View from Kathmandu

  Two years ago this week, much of Nepal shook, collapsed, slid, liquefied, and heaved.  Thousands died.  The Himalayas – born epochs ago from seismic upheaval – reminded our modern world that geologic forces do not respect climbing expedition base camps.  And certainly not tiny villages in remote and beautiful valleys that disappeared instantly.

  Its been two years since the primary quake – and nearly that long since the after-shock that killed more.  Densely populated Kathmandu sustained damage, but fortunately was not wrecked.  The devastation was in more rural areas.  Still, quake damage is quite common to see in the capital.  Its not everywhere, but its not hard to find.

  I’ve been fortunate to recently be a team member working with the Nepalis to improve their crisis management capabilities.  I’ve been to Kathmandu twice in the last 7 weeks – both times impressed with the open determination of everyone I worked with to get better.  They know that the next big quake may come tomorrow, or not for a century.  But more immediately, they know that the seasonal monsoon floods, landslides, and – believe it or not – high numbers of snake bites (rains bring out the snakes), are predictable almost to the day.  And they understand that the things they learned from the big quake – about coordination, response logistics, core skill competency requirements, local first aid - can help them a lot in response to these smaller, localized events.

  Here in the US, we commonly use a model called the disaster (or emergency) management cycle.  We have lovely graphics depicting the phases of the model.  We teach that one is always somewhere in the cycle.  The Nepalis are living a reality that they are actually TWO places on the cycle model today.  They are very much in both “recovery” from the quake and “preparedness” for the next monsoon’s events. 

  I’ll close with an anecdote and a metaphor:  On my last trip, the domestic flight air terminal in Kathmandu had been shut down for several hours, because a leopard had been sighted prowling along the fence beside the terminal. The Himalayan foothills and mountain villages are just off the airport runway, and predatory wildlife is not uncommon.  After a few hours, the cat moved on, the modern world returned, and air traffic resumed.  So just know that two years after the quake in Nepal, they grasp the future, living today with serenity and determination, while keeping an eye out for the leopard slinking along the fence.

Organizational Adaptation

Recent studies have led me into the topic of Organizational Design.  (I’ve capitalized it for emphasis; its frequency in management literature and business school curricula is irregular.)  The subject is intriguing because it offers agency, and, dare I say it, an element of agility is implied.

Most of us in the developed world are participants in some organizational structure that is relatively static.  Corporate, service sector, or governmental entities are generally hierarchical in nature.  They’ve been established that way for some years, and are expected to remain so.  This does not mean that internal re-organizations don’t occur.  (Indeed, some entities do that sort of energy – sucking activity with depressing regularity and to little actual gain.)

But the fundamental pyramid scale – relationship structure doesn’t change very often.  And when a paradigm – rattling, fresh, external influence comes along (new markets, technologies, threats, solutions, etc), well, all too often those are packed into (or tacked onto) a rectangle on the familiar line and block chart.

What if this weren’t so?  What if networks and communities, that became organizations, project teams, or legal entities because of some new dynamic, designed themselves consciously for agility and opportunity and adaptation to the as – yet - unclear stimuli?  And if such a readily - adaptive design were adopted WITHIN a much larger hierarchy, what would be the accommodations (or permissions) needed for optimized effectiveness?

I’m now searching for historical or current examples of this, and your suggestions are welcome.  I’d like to get a sense for how frequently this approach has been used, and what is known about its success rates.  Arguably, and unexpectedly, an Army in an extended campaign may have something to teach on the subject.  Changing “task organization” has been a feature of Western militaries’ practice since Napoleon.  In that setting, though, flexible organizational design has all too often failed.  Observations to draw lessons are likely to be useful.

We have enough – Time to Give

In America, we’re in the midst of our gratitude feast.  There are so many things to treasure about this Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  As a culture we give thanks for all that we have, pause and focus on our blessings, and hold our loved ones particularly closely.  There is much to admire in the sentiments Thanksgiving celebrates.

On a larger scale, whatever our economic circumstance and with admittedly vast generalization, this weekend demonstrates that we have enough.  Enough to survive, really … enough to thrive.  Our feast meals and our bursts of economic activity demonstrate conclusively that we are unlikely to starve, or freeze, or drown trying to escape horror.

With the enough we have, we have a bit to spare.  Yes, we can dispense those “discretionary funds” for more of whatever we fancy.  Or -- we can send a bit of it to help those who, without our aid, might indeed starve, freeze, or drown.

The Agile Strategist would like to invite your attention to the Migrant Offshore Aid Station or MOAS. www.moas.eu  They are a private search and rescue organization, operating at sea, in the refugee / migrant sea lanes.  They believe, as I do, that no one deserves to drown at sea.  They save lives – rescuing our fellow human beings from foundering boats and rafts.  They work with authorities within their jurisdictions.  They also rescue out at sea far beyond where the coast guards can reach.

So, on this holiday weekend where we celebrate having enough, go to the MOAS website. Learn about them, tell your friends about them on social media, donate some money to them.  You and I have enough.   

Book of the Week – “Human Cargo”

The events of the past week have riveted the world – multiple terrorist murders, some of the world’s largest cities turned into battlegrounds and patrol zones, and debates – both serious and bombastic – about the refugees and migrants flowing to the developed world in massive numbers.  A bit of background reading, and a search for some perspective, is in order.  The Book of the Week recommendation for this quest is “Human Cargo” by Caroline Moorehead.

A finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, this work was produced by Moorehead’s years of on-the-ground research in some of the world’s worst places, among some of humanity’s deepest sufferers. 

Fair warning: it’s a painful and emotional read.  But, perhaps more so than ever, it is a necessary one for we in the developed world.  The author serves to remind that the pain of the refugee is unremitting and the lives they seek are ones with a fundamental level of human dignity taken too often for granted in Western society.

The large numbers of refugees and migrants fleeing war and nature’s fury will continue to swell.  This problem is very likely to get worse, at untold human cost.  In the weeks ahead this blog will spotlight the efforts of the too-few heroes trying to help, and the too-many on the sidelines averting their eyes, or listening to foolish political prattle.  If you want to know more about this subject – and you should – read “Human Cargo”.