Juli

“Our intelligence, even our genius, is not given to us so we can brag or take credit for it. It is given to us so that we can be of service to others in some meaningful way.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time

“Our teams were crafted to be chess pieces with well-honed, predictable capabilities. Our leaders, including me, had been trained as chess masters, and we hoped to display the talent and skill of masters. We felt responsible, and harbored a corresponding need to be in control, but as we were learning, we actually needed to let go.”
― Stanley McChrystal, Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World

“Testing for a sense of purpose at its broadest and most visceral is simple: make the experience unpleasant enough and only the truly committed will persevere. The physical hardship of BUD/S is a test, not of strength, but of commitment. “We could tell from interviews who would drop,” Ruiz says. “It was the ones who were in it for themselves: ‘I want to try BUD/S,’ ‘I think I’ll enjoy the challenge.’ Nobody enjoys BUD/S—it’s hell.” The successful ones, he explained, “were the guys who said, ‘I wanna be on the SEAL teams. I wanna fight overseas.’ It seems like a small difference, but it means everything.”
― Stanley McChrystal, Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World

“But the leader’s access to information is not the problem. We can work harder, but how much can we actually take in? Attention studies have shown that most people can thoughtfully consider only one thing at a time, and that multitasking dramatically degrades our ability to accomplish tasks requiring cognitive concentration. Given these limitations, the idea that a “heroic leader” enabled with an über-network of connectivity can simultaneously control a thousand marionettes on as many stages is unrealistic.”
― Stanley McChrystal, Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World