Henry L. Thompson > Quotes

“SOG Imperatives Lead by example. Practice. Practice. Practice. Mindset drives success. High Stress = Bad Decisions. Adapt! Adapt! Adapt! Don’t stop moving. Today started three days ago. Battle Space is dynamic. Change requires a reboot and practice. Dominant Response Hierarchy = first response. Make critical decisions before stress.”
― Henry L. Thompson, SOG Codename Dynamite: A MACV-SOG 1-0's Personal Journal

“When Collins asked Stockdale which POWs didn’t make it out, Stockdale responded, “That’s easy. The optimists.” The optimists were the prisoners who believed and would say that the North Vietnamese were going to release the POWs by Christmas. When it did not happen by Christmas, they would say it was going to happen by Easter, then by Thanksgiving. Eventually the optimists would die of a “broken heart.”
― Henry L. Thompson, The Stress Effect: Why Smart Leaders Make Dumb Decisions--And What to Do About It