by Last week in my HDClarity E-zine, I talked about President Obama looking for information so he knew “whose ass to kick”. I posited that looking for process improvement as opposed to punishment might have produced better outcomes.
This week, more information on how blame works against productivity has surfaced.
It seems the hyper-professional General McChrystal who for the majority of his career has colored between the lines (with some excepted gray areas surrounding the Pat Tillman investigation) just HAD to get his emotional needs met by teeing off at the boss. This is very out of character for General McChrystal.
To McChrystal, it’s clear that Obama’s hard withdrawal date puts the potential success of military operation in jeopardy. McChrystal’s “knowledge” doesn’t match up with Obama’s. We have a disconnect in how to move forward. So what do the most powerful leaders of this situation do? They point fingers at each other. Like kids in a sandbox in the schoolyard. C’mon guys! You have our wallet and the lives of our sons and daughters in your hands. Grow up! What was Stanley (McChrystal) thinking when he blurted his little temper tantrum to Michael Hastings (the Rolling Stone Reporter who interviewed him)? And what was Obama thinking when he basically fired the man most strategists feel was the most experienced, best connected manager of the Afghanistan debacle. Obama will see to it that his “knowledge” is the accepted “knowledge”. Barack WINS!!!! T.K.O.
I understand the “rules” of insubordination. But how effective are they considering the king may have no clothes? Where does Obama get his data? Where does McChrystal? When do they explore the “doubt” that exists between their “knowledges” about how to proceed? To my understanding the two have only met at a photo shoot where McChrystal claims he was snubbed by Obama (sandbox!!!!).
No innocents here. McChrystal’s outcry to get his emotional needs met vs. Obama’s need to remove dissenters. There is no right and wrong here. There’re only our tax dollars, our sons and daughters lives, and our international reputation. And both men’s “knowledges” have merit. Too bad it was settled in the sandbox on the schoolyard.
