Ex-Cadet Blog

Command and Control is Dead - Long Live Value Proposition

2007-10-13T13:34:00.000-07:00

I’ve heard a lot lately about declining interest in the RMC Club. People ask “Why is this so?” My answer? “Command and Control is dead”. And being a former CELE officer, I recognize the heresy in this, but for Ex-Cadet purposes, I think it works. I’ll leave the doctrinal debate over C2 vs network centric warfare to those better versed the current state of the art of electronic warfare.

There was a time when the RMC Club would announce an event, and Ex-Cadets would fill the seats. But you may have noticed a trend in society lately. Parents are more involved with their kids. Business is more competitive. Traffic is worse. Costs are higher. With divorces, children, work travel, mergers, and postings, we can't expect people to have the Club in the same status that it held 30 years ago. If we, as Ex-Cadets, don't reach out to our members, to share the value, we can't expect them to just 'show up' the way we used to. It has to be worth their valuable time. And what was valuable 5 years ago, is a commodity today.

One fundamental truth I’ve learned about business success is that you must have a clear value proposition. In addition, one needs reasonable prices, convenient access and sensible time expectations. Let's face it, when we, as a Club, organize a function, we need to think like retailers. *Everything* matters, from price to parking. And you'd better be aware that you're competing for your target's time. Finally, *nothing* will come of it unless there is a coordinated sales campaign. I've seen corporate golf tournaments struggle, with free food, free green fees, carts, prizes and drinks. It's not that people aren't interested in free golf. It's that they're time pressed and the sales teams need to work the phones to solidify the value proposition in the customer's heads. Fewer and fewer jobs allow for half days away from the office. And clearly, if we're doing the same things and getting worse results, shouldn't we be changing our methods? Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results?

If you're going to get *anyone* to attend a function [be they Ex-Cadets or anyone else] you need to treat them like customers and I believe strongly, that we need to start treating the Ex-Cadet community this way. The folks behind the Veritas and the e-Veritas have been doing a superb job over the years, and you may have noticed that the quality of the product has been improving. But in my mind, we’re missing something key that is preventing more Ex-Cadets from joining the Club and being more active in it. Sure, we have a common background, but if we just assume that the Ex-Cadets are going to 'read the memo' and just show up like so many privates, we've missed the changes that have gone on in society in the last 10 years.

Part of my strategy to promote dialog among our community is to get Ex-Cadets communicating on Facebook. I don't believe that Facebook is going to be some kind of panacea to make the Club successful. It's just another communications means, and should only be considered one part of the overall marketing campaign [we do have a *plan* don't we?] and it needs to be followed up by individual accountability to drive people to join. But it all starts with the definition of the Value Proposition.

What is the Value Proposition for the RMC Club today [in *your* opinion]? What does it need to be for our community to thrive?

The New Psychology of Leadership

2007-10-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

While going through an airport last month, the cover of Scientific American Mind had a cover highlighting recent work in the study of leadership. Having an armchair interest in the subject [nurtured by 4 years at RMC], I picked up a copy. You can read the article here. While the essentials of leadership remain unchanged [integrity, domain knowledge, etc.] what I found most interesting is the approach that leaders are more effective if the followers believe that they can somehow relate to them. If you can stomach the first paragraph, [the part about Bush being a great leader] you’ll see that they make a pretty good case.

2007-10-01T19:18:00.001-07:00

2007 Sandhurst Competition

You think things were tougher when you were at RMC? Check out these guys and gals training for the Sandhurst Competition... oh, and by the way, they won, beating West Point and Sandhurst....

If you're not squeamish about language you can't use in church, you can check out the 'official' video

2007 Toronto Leadership Dinner - “Celebrating Canada’s Global Military Contribution”

2007-09-30T13:26:00.000-07:00

Gord Clarke, President of the Toronto Branch of the RMC Club sent the note below highlighting the 2007 Leadership Dinner.

I hope you join us in Toronto on Grey Cup Weekend!

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Dear friends and colleagues:

The Toronto Branch of the Royal Military Colleges Club of Canada and the reserve units of the Canadian Forces in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) invite you to a celebration of Canada’s global military contribution to peace and security. The fundraising dinner proceeds will benefit the Wounded Warriors Fund and establish a bursary for attendance at the Royal Military College (RMC) of Canada by members of the Reserve Forces.

At the dinner, we will present the Birchall Leadership Award to Major Danny McLeod, a man who has provided inspired leadership in war and peace as an officer and as a great sportsman and coach with links throughout the hockey community and Canadian university sports organizations. The award is named for Air Commodore Leonard Birchall, a Canadian hero of World War II.

The guest speaker for the occasion is General Rick Hillier, C.M.M., M.S.C., C.D., Chief of the Defence Staff. Serving members of the Reserve Forces and local regiments will be in attendance, as will Officer Cadets from RMC. Entertainment will be provided by military bands from the GTA and RMC.

RMC is a national academic and military institution whose sole purpose is to train Canada’s future officers for leadership roles. The dinner will raise awareness of RMC and its role within the business, government and academic communities in the GTA.

We expect to have more than 500 guests and media in attendance; and there is a very high probability that this event will be quickly sold out. To avoid disappointment you should reserve your seat as soon as possible. [Note that I have also created an 'event' on Facebook for those using that service - PK]

For Corporate Sponsorships, please contact Peter Fosbery at (416) 769-8842.

Event details: www.toronto.rmcclub.ca/leadershipdinner.htm

Ex-Cadet Oversight and Dialog

2007-09-29T10:29:00.000-07:00

As I post this the Wing is on the Parade Square and the newly badged First Years have joined their Squadrons. Ex-Cadets are in town for their annual visit and reminiscence. The venerable cycle at RMC continues

Since my days at RMC, I’ve spoken to countless Ex-Cadets who express a genuine concern over the dilution of what I’m electing to call the “RMC brand”. I’ll be posting more on that brand later, but for now, let’s focus on dialog and oversight by the Ex-Cadet community and how we can all participate.

The point of the blog is not 'follow me'. I don’t claim to have any great insight into how to run a world-class military college. The truth is I wasn’t a great student. I never got my crossed-bats and Supps weren’t alien to me. I don’t want Ex-Cadets to micromanage Mackenzie since we all understand how paramount principles like OpSec and Chain of Command are. Rather, I'm interested in dialog. We live in an era where the cost of communication has essentially been reduced to zero, and that cost reduction has also opened up two-way transparency. And speed. What I’m experimenting with here is a means to provide the collective experience and wisdom of those who attended a Canadian Military College [we used to have three, and not everyone graduated] to anyone interested in the legacy of Canadian military leadership.

I don’t want things returned to “When I was a rook…” I want it to be better, because today’s officers have to be much more qualified than officers of my era. We were training to fight in a totally different geopolitical sphere. Our battlespace had a big red line on one side of the map and a blue one opposing it. Today, there’s a spectrum of lines that vary from geography to geography. So the training paradigm may need tweaking. Or it may need wholesale renovation. I’ll leave the details of the specifics to the CF to address. I’m interested in the culture of the College.

Many times as a Cadet, whenever some new policy was instituted, I remember thinking, "oh... wait 'till the Ex-Cadets hear about this!", particularly when my peers and I disagreed with it. Now clearly, as OCdts, we didn’t have the most global views. Nor did we necessarily have the experience or exposure to different styles and methods. But as a leadership laboratory [that’s one of the ways I describe RMC to outsiders] we also had the flexibility to try different things and see what worked. So, in hindsight, a little non-sequitur from time to time might make for a good exercise. If you think Mackenzie is squirrelly, wait until you’re a Senior Officer and have to deal with Parliament. Or a civilian boss.

But in my opinion, there has been little oversight by Ex-Cadets on the overall activities at the College. Maybe we, as a community, haven’t asked. But there have been times where we wonder what’s going on. Take last year’s misguided mandate [I’m not bound by QR&Os here] that 4th years live off campus aka “The Cadet Socialization Project.” There was a collective, visceral response from Ex-Cadets. Not since Bob Rae was elected Premier have I heard so many people wonder “What the…?” Mind you, I suppose one could argue that oversight *does* exist, since it has since been rectified. But what’s going to happen if someone decides to get rid of #5s because of budget stress…ooops…too late...the Class of ’59 was astute enough to post the assassination order.

Accountants 1 Esprit de Corps 0

I would encourage the collective College leadership to welcome our oversight. If you really want to see what a lack of external oversight can do to an institution, just Google for ‘scandal’ and ‘West Point USMA”, “Annapolis USNA” or “Colorado Springs USFA” and see what you get. Careful your jaw doesn’t hit the keyboard.

How can Ex-Cadets get involved? You’re reading this blog, so I’m assuming you have some level of interest in the subject. One idea is to connect with your classmates [phone, email, Facebook via the Ex-Cadets group] and talk about your experiences, both what worked and what didn’t. Mentor a Cadet. Subscribe to e-Veritas. Get a lifetime membership to the RMC Club, if you haven’t already. If you're genuinely interested, get involved in the ongoing experiment that is RMC.

Tradition - the ongoing debate

2007-09-28T20:55:00.000-07:00

16409 Dave Caplan [RMC '88 and one of the most articulate guys to ever wear scarlets] sent me a great note that was so compelling, that I got his OK to post it.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

With greatest respect to you, I have to disagree with Henry Bullen's exaltation of tradition. What I've found is that all too often, "Tradition is the act of making the same mistake twice, on purpose." Sometimes an act of manifest incompetence or dereliction is protected and perpetuated by the mantra of Tradition. Worse yet, Tradition is occasionally invoked to manipulate masses of sheople toward destinations secretly intended to benefit their shepherds at the flock's expense (viz. many examples of organized religion).

I respectfully submit that anything done in the past is not *by that reason alone* a more appropriate present course of action than any other. Given the constancy of human nature, any given tradition most likely originated as an adequate but sub-optimal solution to some problem in its own day; it was likely institutionalized by vested interests who benefited more from its continuation than others realized; and its inherent deficiencies may today be exacerbated by the peculiarities of its now altered context.

In a world of exponentially accelerating change (now with the added bonus of global secondary and subsequent effects), the unquestioning embrace of a tradition can as easily harm as help. Consider as elementary examples: performing close order drill in scarlet uniforms in the face of rifled breech-loading firearms; persistently bombing civilian residences in the face of an indigenous insurgency; considering periodic election of successive autocratic governments to be the full measure of Democracy; becoming a Catholic altar-boy; etc, etc, etc, etc.

Far better, in my view, to subject any proposed course of action to critical scrutiny and thoughtful creative evolution, regardless of a proffered tradition's purported pedigree.

Maybe I just have a problem with "authority" :) Or perhaps I'm intrinsically bound to my own suppressed albatross of a tradition, namely endless evolution - or worse yet, devotion to the ascendancy of reason over emotion. Sigh.

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Anyone out there have an opinion?

FIRST YEARS HAVE TIME TO BLOG?!?!

2007-09-26T22:37:00.000-07:00

WTF? When *I* was a rook.....
http://canadianflyboy.blogspot.com/
Follow Brad Ashcroft's progress through RMC

RMC and Wikipedia

2007-09-25T21:27:00.000-07:00

Veracity is not absolute on Wikipedia, but it does give a glimpse into what the community at large is thinking. I was poking around to see if RMC still has a Cadet Wing Commander (CWC). So, I plugged that term into Wikipedia and found something on USAFA. I wondered if the RMC Cadet command structure could be put on Wikipedia. Before anyone in Ottawa or Kingston gets really torqued, I would like to point out that NATO Rank and Insignia is already there…

RMC does have an entry on Wikipedia and someone has gone to great pains to list both notable RMC people and memorials. And it’s not limited to RMC. CMR RRMC and even the Paladins have their own entries. That got me thinking… Shouldn’t the Club and Foundation each have one?

Oh, and by the way, CANFORGEN 136/06 CDS 050/06 011318Z SEP 06 GUIDANCE ON BLOGS AND OTHER INTERNET COMMUNICATIONS - CF OPERATIONS AND ACTIVITIES applies to CF personnel [I’m assuming DND civilians as well] and their online activities. I, too, was quite impressed with the fact that the CF/DND machine was sufficiently "hip" to recognize that the Internet poses a unique capability to communicate with the public, yet still has some OpSec components that need to be addressed. I haven't read the order in detail, but from what I've read from other blogs, it deals with the principle "if you're not sure if you should publish something, check with the Chain of Command." That seems reasonable.

An example of how the RMC Ex-Cadet Network actually works

2007-09-25T15:40:00.000-07:00

Years ago, while she was training for the Olympics our own 17324 Sharon Donnely (RMC ’90) contacted me via email inquiring about accommodations for her cycling training in San Luis Obispo, about an 8 hour drive from where I live. Knowing nothing about cycling, I put the request out to my network. It turns out that 11639, Paul Detering (RMC ’78) happens to:

1) Be in my network

2) Be an avid cyclist

3) know people in the cycling community that could help Sharon out.

I put Sharon and Paul in touch, she connected with Paul’s contacts, and was able to progress with her training for the Olympics. She went on to represent Canada in Sydney.

Total cost to the network $0. And that was when the Canadian dollar was at 80 cents!

I use this example not to glorify anything that I did. Rather, it was a relatively complex request from her point of view [after all, Sharon was in Kingston at the time, and didn’t really know anyone in California…except me] , but a relatively simple one from mine.

It really is that simple.

So, what does the RMC Club mean to me?

2007-09-18T20:44:00.000-07:00

A lot. The Club gets a lot of my time. I’m a strong believer that networking builds value in the universe. If I’m a good bricklayer, it does no one any good [including myself] unless I can work with home builders and home buyers to determine what they need, what I can provide and figure out any deltas that could be areas for improvement. If I get engaged, and really get to know people in the industry [on *all* sides, not just my customers] I can serve everyone’s needs. My customers, my employers, my partners and mine. Especially mine.

The RMC Club is much the same way. It can help you. But you first need to understand the creation of value http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_network

The Club can do a lot for you. But it starts with you. You need to be part of the Club and contribute, to gain from its value. Are you a member? If you are, *THANK YOU* for supporting the Club and the College. If not, what can I do to help you recognize the value it can bring into your life?

Blog Rules

2007-07-02T15:49:00.000-07:00

I’ll try to limit my posts to College issues, but occasionally, we’ll drift into issues of the CF, Canadian society in general, and certainly the culture of the business world

I’m neither sanctioned nor supported by the College. These are just the random observations of an Ex-Cadet. I don’t have a Member of Parliament nor a Commanding Officer that can force me to do anything, so that also allows me to do/say certain things that official publications can’t. I may be a little raw, but I’ll do what I can to keep from getting barred from the College grounds!

The blog will be in English Only. Je suis presque bilingue, mais I love the French language too much to attempt to do it justice after 15 years of minimal exposure. I’ll write about French issues from time to time, but malheureusement, seulement en anglais… Readers are welcome to send me observations in French, though. I can still read

Please comment whether you agree with what I have to say or not. I promise to read everything you have to say! And if it makes sense, even if it opposes one of my positions, I will post it [with your permission, of course!]

TDV

petekyyz at gmail