People notice what works...sometimes

[Keith&Co.]

There's an old saying,

Amateurs study tactics, armchair generals study strategy, but professionals study logistics.

In WWII, there were literally thousands of miles in the supply chain from factories and meat packing plants in the US to the Phillipines, North Africa, Europe. Mastering the craft of delivering supplies to the sharp end of the stick required noting the need, identifying the challenges, and accepting the importance of the field. Paying attention, basically

Meanwhile....
I'm reading about a woman who largely created the French Resistance in WWII. I've also read books about women spies and combat participants in other wars, including our Civil War, Revolutionary War, WWI, Afghanistan, other nation's heroines...

And it seems a constant that in any account of women's contribution to the slugfests between nations, the author must dedicate anywhere between a few paragraph to a chapter about how women are underestimated. By the enemy AND her side; her comrades, her superiors.
Virgin ia Hall, my current reading, a Baltimore socialite, was regularly underutilized by our state dept, but when a British spy took a chance on her, she was the only woman in their initial infiltration of Occupied France. And the only spy NOT swept up by the Gestapo, nearly blinding British intelligence. And went on to develop contacts, support, lines of communication, circuits of spies, trained and coordinated attacks....

Note about one of her recruits. A gynocologist. The guy who issues the 'syphilis-free' cards to prostitutes is almost in a better position for guerilla war than the guys who blow up bridges. Just saying....

It just seems odd that we seem to get bit on our collective ass by sexism time after time after time. You'd think it would get as much attention in leadership school as tactics, strategy, and logistics. At least in school lessons written by the winners....

 

[Jarhyn]

There's an old saying,

Amateurs study tactics, armchair generals study strategy, but professionals study logistics.

In WWII, there were literally thousands of miles in the supply chain from factories and meat packing plants in the US to the Phillipines, North Africa, Europe. Mastering the craft of delivering supplies to the sharp end of the stick required noting the need, identifying the challenges, and accepting the importance of the field. Paying attention, basically

Meanwhile....
I'm reading about a woman who largely created the French Resistance in WWII. I've also read books about women spies and combat participants in other wars, including our Civil War, Revolutionary War, WWI, Afghanistan, other nation's heroines...

And it seems a constant that in any account of women's contribution to the slugfests between nations, the author must dedicate anywhere between a few paragraph to a chapter about how women are underestimated. By the enemy AND her side; her comrades, her superiors.
Virgin ia Hall, my current reading, a Baltimore socialite, was regularly underutilized by our state dept, but when a British spy took a chance on her, she was the only woman in their initial infiltration of Occupied France. And the only spy NOT swept up by the Gestapo, nearly blinding British intelligence. And went on to develop contacts, support, lines of communication, circuits of spies, trained and coordinated attacks....

Note about one of her recruits. A gynocologist. The guy who issues the 'syphilis-free' cards to prostitutes is almost in a better position for guerilla war than the guys who blow up bridges. Just saying....

It just seems odd that we seem to get bit on our collective ass by sexism time after time after time. You'd think it would get as much attention in leadership school as tactics, strategy, and logistics. At least in school lessons written by the winners....

That's an interesting insight. I think you may be onto something here, insofar as cultural elements (and the underlying biological machinery that supports that culture) of "women in general" seems to be more focused on asking about and considering the needs other people have, and how to address those needs. This is the heart of logistics, and logistics is the heart of warfare.

I would imagine in a lot of ways, though, that Virgina avoided scrutiny specifically because she was not in the German estimation even capable of being a spy: sexism was part of what made her an effective weapon. Her very existence created a blind spot.

Regardless, this reinforces an argument I make fairly regularly about a particular philosophical problem I like to call "The Problem of Perspective", which says that not every position on the "error surface" can be in a position to see over the horizon, to the best solution. You need people at very different locations on the error surface with the hopes that at least ONE might be capable of reaching a solution. It is a common problem in AI, and generally the reason all neural networks start out randomized in their connectivity maps (this places them randomly on the error surface).

The more disparate or far-flung the players on a team are, the better. This makes an "ought" exist, if the goal is to find the solution to a difficult problem not solved with the given perspectives, one OUGHT aim for a greater diversity of perspective.

 

[Patooka]

1) Everything takes time.

2) If it is the right idea, it can and will take a life of its own.