I Served My Country and Lost My Privacy

This article by Carey Lohrenz just posted in the Huffington Post

Women have been flying military aircraft since 1942. The WASPs, or Women's Airforce Service Pilots, ferried 12,650 fighter and bomber planes all over the US, Canada and overseas when needed. They also instructed Air Corps pilots and towed practice targets for combat pilots.

However, women were limited to noncombat roles.

Over the course of time, the nature of warfare has changed. Women have become an integral part of the armed forces.

The Persian Gulf War, in 1990-1991, demonstrated how integral women had become to U.S. airpower. Female pilots flew various helicopters, reconnaissance, refueling and supply aircraft deep into Iraqi airspace. They loaded weapons onto fighters and directed Air Force pilots from AWACS planes.

But the final frontier for female aviators was to fly the coveted combat fighter jets and bombers.
In December of 1991, Congress removed the ban on women in combat aircraft with the passage of Public Law 102-190, but the Department of Defense policy still prohibited women from taking combat aircraft assignments.

However, on April 28, 1993, the policy ban was finally lifted by then-Secretary of Defense, Les Aspin. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Frank B. Kelso was the first to act on this order, placing the Navy ahead of the other services, and opening up opportunities to women who wanted to fly fighters and live their dreams of military careers out on the leading edge.

When the combat exclusion clause was lifted that prohibited women from flying, I was at the top of my flight school class and fully qualified and positioned to go fly fighters. I was one of the first women to become a United States Navy combat pilot assigned to fly the venerable F-14A Tomcat on and off of aircraft carriers.
Little did I know at that time that by 'choosing combat jets' I was giving up my rights to privacy and the right to defend my reputation.




When I tried to defend myself against false allegations made against me, the D.C. Circuit court held that when I became one of the first female combat pilots in the United States Navy, I assumed the risk of public scrutiny and therefore became a 'voluntary limited-purpose public figure' under defamation law. In our country's history, only a handful of military officers have been denied their right to privacy due to their military service. I am one of them.

This issue takes on even greater importance today as our military is again considering expanding women's role, this time by inclusion in front-line ground combat forces. Recently, the United States Marine Corps announced that women will be permitted for the first time to attend its Infantry Officer Course in Quantico, VA.

There will be those who will work tirelessly to see these women fail. There will be 'haters.' Although unfortunate, that is to be expected; it's one of the many prices to pay for being a pioneer. But there will be women falsely maligned by those who wish they had not succeeded, and these soldiers will have virtually no legal recourse. They will not be permitted to maintain the rights to privacy enjoyed by the men serving on their left and right, and they will not be able to legally and publicly defend their reputations because they will be legally labeled as Limited Purpose Public Figures. We owe it to our courageous servicewomen to educate them on just what serving their country may cost them.

Being one of the first women to fly a combat fighter aircraft, I learned to recognize the difference between effective leadership and poor leadership. Strong leaders do not permit witch hunts, react emotionally to problems that surface in the media or "slow-roll" policy implementation. What makes policy changes successful is strong leadership. If there is to be a formal policy change permitting women to serve in new military capacities, it will be incumbent upon senior military leaders to ensure that policy is implemented successfully and with minimal disruption. I believe they are more than up to the task.

Major policy changes are where the most critical senior leadership challenges begin. This is especially true when a policy change significantly alters the military's social norm, as was the case in the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, and as will be the case when women are permitted to serve in front-line ground combat forces. The coming years will reveal the strength of today's senior military leadership as they navigate the choppy waters of implementing these policy changes, while protecting the young pioneers who are bravely volunteering to blaze a trail in the service of our country.

Three Simple Steps for Planning Success!

By John "Hatch" Borneman

Several years ago The Harvard Business Review shared that an hour of planning can prevent 200 possible mistakes.

Pretty compelling.  

Over the last 12 years as we have worked with corporate teams around the world, I am routinely surprised at how often I run into teams that have not built a written plan, or they have a plan that is not well communicated or routinely updated.

High Performing Teams Plan for Success!

Having a plan is not the “silver bullet” for success but regularly engaging your team in the process of planning will provide the potential for greater success.  When we engage our team in planning, the benefits to the team are far reaching. 

Open Planning allows us to:

•  Clarify objectives and their purpose for  achievement
•  Share information and ideas for developing an action plan
•  Increase Team member’s knowledge and elevate their overall situational awareness

 

Preparation and Planning enable better Execution and Accelerate Performance as circumstances change during execution of the plan.  People need to understand the team goals, and their roles. Having a written plan allows clear assignment of accountability, defines the rules of engagement and helps drive a team’s success.

Additionally without a well understood plan, it is very difficult to hold an effective Debrief.  The importance of Debriefs within the planning cycle cannot be understated.

A Debrief provides the means to evaluate performance, capture lessons learned and update the existing plan.  Speed and momentum are generated, which are crucial in a competitive environment.

Finally, a consistent Prepare-Execute-Debrief-Adjust process will enable team members to exercise initiative that will reduce Execution errors and increase personal buy-in. Our experience has shown that High Performing Teams do this regularly to Accelerate Performance.

The Shocking Truth About Patient Safety and Risk Management: Lessons That Should be Learned from Aviation

Carey Lohrenz here.

An average of 200,000 Americans die in hospitals annually from medical mistakes. That is the equivalent of 390 jumbo jets full of people.  Four years ago today, a lack of basic Patient Safety measures had a catastrophic consequence: It cost my Dad his life.  Had a culture of Patient Safety been prevalent in the operating room, I wouldn’t be writing this post.  Patient Safety and Risk Management is something that we all should be concerned with. When there is a lapse in Patient Safety, it steals our spouses, parents, grandparents and friends.

Raised in a Safety Culture…



Robert E.Dunai



My Dad was a former United States Marine Corps Aviator and a Delta pilot for 36 years. Safety was ALWAYS his number one concern. The safety of his crew and the safety of his passengers were not a responsibility he took lightly. As a child I would ask him when things got bad in the airplane, be it weather or mechanical issues, if he ever worried about getting his passengers home safely.  His reply was always simple:  “As long as we know our procedures cold, continue to fly the airplane and talk to each other, the two of us upfront will be ok- and that means everyone onboard will be ok too… And they love their families as much as I do.”

Today’s military and commercial aviation communities use processes that keep them 99.9996% accident free. These processes cover skill sets for teamwork, clear communication, discipline, collaboration, standard protocols, self-incident reporting procedures, and decision making.  In the aviation industry, the concept of "Crew Resource Management" empowers anyone on the flight deck to challenge another pilot if they see a potentially fatal blunder in the making.  

But there is a fragile culture in the operating room.  Egos can get in the way, and surgeons are often treated with complete deference because of their sophisticated skill sets, and as a result there is hesitancy for nurses and other staff to speak up - even if THEY see a problem.  Understandably, the atmosphere in an operating room can be tense.

However, poor communication between hospital support staff nurses and surgeons is the leading cause of avoidable surgical errors.  Improving communication, collaboration, and teamwork between physicians, nurses, staff and patients is critical.

Straight forward techniques that are used routinely in the cockpit: pre-flight briefing’s (pre-operative briefing’s), checklist’s, the ability to call a “time-out’ or a ‘knock-it off’ when there is a concern, and routine Debrief’s, could all reduce the error rates.

Health care is becoming ever more sophisticated. With continual advances in technology and equipment, surgeons and physicians can't know everything. It takes a team to be successful.

But Patient Safety needn’t be a victim. Nor should your family member…

Accountability Starts with You!

Carey Lohrenz here.

You are your own limitation.  It’s not the economy, the government, your boss, your colleagues or your family that holds you back.  It’s you...

Some people achieve extraordinary things in life; others do not.  A difference between the two groups lies in Accountability.

Excellence requires Accountability.  Take carrier aviation: even though there is enormous individual and team effort within aircraft carrier fighter squadrons, accountability is essential. Carrier aviation demands it because lives are at stake.  Here, High Performance and Accountability are not just catchphrases, but a way of life.  We achieve this level of Accountability through Leadership and Debriefing.

If your organization is interested AT ALL in holding on to top talent, Accountability is critical.  Top talent doesn’t mind being held accountable for their results, however oftentimes they will LEAVE if they perceive their teammates not being held accountable. Top talent likes other top talent.

The following video with Michael Jordan exposes in a really frank manner the typical problem of how people try to explain away their ability to be successful and the simplicity of where accountability MUST begin.

Don’t explain away your ability to be successful.  Don’t point fingers.

Create the life you want.  Take responsibility, drive results.

Be Accountable.

It starts with YOU!

Do the Right Thing: U.S Navy Rescues Iranian Fishing Boat from Pirates

Carey Lohrenz here.

Poor leadership seems to be everywhere these days-just look at the headlines: big layoffs, money misspent by 'trusted' leaders, lost opportunities... the list could go on.

But  this week there was a phenomenal example of great leadership supported by a high performing team that was able to just Do the Right Thing: The U.S. Navy.

Amid enormous political tensions in the Straight of Hormuz, high performing teams from the USS John C. Stennis battlegroup were able to rescue an Iranian fishing boat crew who had been held captive by pirates for upwards of 45 days. 

According to The Wall Street Journal, the rescue came just a few days after Tehran wanted to bar U.S. warships from the Persian Gulf.

An ironic situation.

But not when it is within your culture to Do the Right Thing, the honorable thing.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta stated, "When we get a distress signal, we're going to respond. That's the nature of what our country is all about."

True Leadership means that even when times are tough you need to continue to  Do the Right Thing.

Well done, U.S. Navy!

Merry Christmas!

Accomplishing a Night Carrier Landing

Carey Lohrenz here.

Successfully accomplishing a night carrier landing takes a High Performing Team and a Culture of Excellence.

United States Naval Aviators and United States Marine Corps Aviators are the only pilots in the world who land on aircraft carriers at night.

No one else in the world will even make the attempt.

There is no blacker emptiness than launching off the bow (the front end) of the carrier at night with no stars, no moon and no horizon. 

Except when you have to come back to the carrier and it’s time to land. 

It is a dark black hole, especially when the weather is bad. The best way to describe it is to walk into your closet with all the lights in your house off, at night, then blindfold yourself. And blindfold yourself again.  Now try to do your job.

It's one of the most incredible things you can experience, yet it's also one of the most terrifying. Coming aboard the carrier at night makes even the most experienced, seasoned fighter pilot’s knees shake like leaves and boots beat like a drum on the rudder pedals. 

Unlike pilots in other military services or pilots of commercial aircraft, aircraft carrier pilots don’t have the luxury of landing on 6,000-10,000 feet. Because you are trying to land on a postage stamp in the middle of blackness.

A carrier landing is similar to a controlled crash.  The touch down is enough to destroy most other airplanes. As the arresting hook snags a wire, your body is slammed forward with such force at times it feels as though your legs and arms are going to separate from your body.

That’s what going from 155 knots to a complete stop in 1.2 seconds does to you.

You can do it well, but never perfectly. Every single pass is critiqued and Debriefed by the Landing Signal Officers (LSOs), and you're graded no matter what your rank or experience level. A Culture of Learning, is a hallmark of carrier aviation. The ideas of learning before doing, learning during and learning after guide all that we do. This allows us to Reduce our Time to Insight and adjust as a team to a rapidly changing environment successfully. 

Extensive studies were performed on carrier aviators in Vietnam.  Pilots were hooked up to EKG tests and their heart rates and breathing rates were measured.  The test results were shocking: all of the carrier aviators had higher pulses and blood pressures behind the boat at night after a mission than they did when they were getting shot at.

You know why? It’s dark, the deck pitches and heaves-sometimes up to 30 feet at a time and it requires every bit of skill, focus and attention a pilot can muster to get on board safely.

We don’t do it all alone, however. It takes a High Performing Team supported by a Culture of Excellence that is oriented on winning to get the job done.

Enjoy the video on night carrier landing operations below.

Remaining Relevant

Carey Lohrenz here.

In a challenging economic environment, remaining relevant to your customers and within your organization is critical to your survival.

Those who fail to deliver value to their consumers, shareholders, clients and teammates become extinct.

Want proof?  Just ask Circuit City.

Circuit City became complacent. With a management group at the helm that failed to pick great store locations, combined with terrible inventory choices (think no major appliances) and customer service issues, their customers deemed them irrelevant and now shop at Best Buy, Wal-Mart or the other Big Box down the block.

Or Blockbuster. This movie rental chain failed to notice the change happening all around it. They failed to adapt.

Or NASA. 

For over 50 years NASA has been exploring the skies and atmosphere while teaching us more about our planet and ourselves.  Have you ever seen a space shuttle? It is a wondrous thing.  A peek at the inside of the space shuttle is a display of cutting edge-technology and representative of the precise teamwork necessary for successful mission completion.  This formidable ‘office’ (or cockpit) is capable of International business and research (satellite recovery, anyone?)  

And now NASA space shuttles are, sadly, irrelevant.

How did an organization like NASA fail to understand shifts in marketplace demands, of the customers’ perception of the importance of innovation, discovery, and research?

I don't know a ton about space programs, but I do know this: in aviation, complacency kills.

Same is true in business: if you become complacent and fail to ignore the warning signs (shifts in culture, trends, global demands, budget restrictions), you could be facing extinction.

But if you remain relevant, fight off complacency, stay agile and adaptable, you will be able to thrive in any economy, and leave extinction to the dinosaurs. 

Establish a Culture of Excellence Through Leadership

John Borneman here.

As we work with countless teams and companies to help them build a Culture of Excellence through High Performing Teams, Effective Leadership is a critical element required for success.  The tone set by the leader is very important and one of the phrases we use to emphasize this point is “You get what you demand, or you get what you tolerate”.

You either set straight forward clear objectives, standards and rules to accelerate performance and hold people accountable or you can just continue to talk a good game, not be consistent in your enforcement process, and achieve less than optimum results.

At a recent team building event, Jon ‘Tejas’ Sherrell, was asked during a Q&A session to provide a closing thought about creating a Culture of Excellence.  ‘Tejas’ had recently returned from commanding a large Marine Corps exercise in southeast California.  This is what he demanded of all those involved in his command team: As challenges evolved in the execution of their plan, in that very dynamic environment, they bring him solutions to those challenges-not just their complaints about the challenges. 

Tejas also shared how he had to “coach up” a senior member of his command team who initially was focused on complaining about some identified challenges as opposed to following Tejas’ direction to bring solutions (or more specifically to be a problem solver).  Through Tejas’ direct engagement and leadership training, that particular team member came around, and started proposing solutions to problems, enabling the command team to Accelerate Execution.

This is a great story that clearly demonstrates how holding people accountable to defined direction leads to far better outcomes. Tejas chose not to tolerate the complaining and insisted on problem-solving.

Unfortunately, leaders tolerate deviation from stated direction and standards every day, which only adds friction to execution and thereby slows it down.

Time is the enemy of achieving success so anything that slows us down is simply bad.  If something is important to you as a leader you cannot just talk about it.

If you strive to develop a Culture of Excellence, YOU have to hold people accountable.  

You get what you demand, or you get what you tolerate.

Accelerate Execution Through Debriefing

Carey Lohrenz here.

Harvard Business Review states that companies typically realize only about 60% of their strategies potential value because of defects and breakdowns in planning and execution.

To Accelerate Execution and obtain peak performance High Performing Organizations Debrief.

Debriefing allows you to:

• Identify execution shortfalls sooner
• New opportunities faster
• Adapt successfully to changing market conditions

Debriefing will Reduce Your Time to Insight.

What are some of our clients still doing even though it is summer time? Debriefing!

A big shout out to our clients that have continued to Debrief the last three weeks, even on the Fourth of July!

Continuing to do what the competition will not, will help them Accelerate Execution. 

For breakthrough results and to learn how you can help your organization Accelerate Execution through Debriefing, see Kyle "Cruiser" Howlin in a short Debriefing video here.

6 Steps for More Productive Meetings

John Underhill here.

Facilitating an effective meeting in corporate America is often likened to herding cats. Most companies spend far too much time and fail to hold productive meetings in today’s conference rooms. 

Don't waste another hour. Use these 6 steps for more effective meetings:

1.  Start with a clear Desired Effect for the meeting.   How many times have you gotten together to “discuss” issues or projects, invested valuable time and effort, only to walk out of the room wondering what it was you all were actually trying to accomplish? Instead, determine ahead of time specifically what the deliverable of the meeting will be and ensure participants know what they will have accomplished by the time they walk out the door.

     2.  Establish and enforce Rules of Engagement (ROE). By creating rules and making them stick, you’ll have a much better chance of successfully reaching the desired effect. Start on time – end on time. Insist on no interruptions – phones off, banish email. Impose penalties for violations of the ROE. A $5 fine per infraction can be fun and at the same time let everyone know you’re serious. Donate to a favorite charity or even a recreation fund.

3.  Ensure everyone knows what to bring. Nothing is more frustrating than carving out an hour or two in a busy schedule, making arrangements, (or worse - traveling to a meeting), only to find that important / required information or resources aren’t on hand.  Let all hands be prepared by telling them what they need to have / be familiar with / be ready to do.

4.  Provide all necessary supplies / logistic support. You’ve got the room, everyone has made it on time, they’re prepared, but the projector bulb burned out, flip charts are absent, or wide-tipped markers, or post-its, or you-name-it…..and production comes to a screeching halt. Plan for contingencies. Make a comprehensive checklist and follow it.

5.  Stay focused on topic. It is easy to get side-tracked on unrelated issues. This is the single biggest threat to achieving the meeting’s desired effect. To avoid this trap, use a “Parking Lot ”. Keep a flip chart (or portion of a white board) dedicated to issues that may be important or deserve attention, but are not within the scope of the work at hand. Reassure all that those concerns / issues won’t be dismissed, but dealt with later, with specific accountability ensured.

6.  Finally, establish agreed upon specific next steps, timeline, and single points of accountability.  You have had a productive meeting and you’ve actually achieved your desired effect. What happens next?  Make sure everyone knows the “Who-What-When” of next steps. (See #4) to improve execution after your successful meeting.

 

Implementing these simple techniques will drive  more effective meetings and Accelerate Execution.  Your challenge of “herding cats” will become one of “directing tigers”!   

Seven Top Gun Tips for Effective Training

Kyle Howlin here.

Organizations that fail to invest in training their employees jeopardize their own success and survival.

Education and Training is the most significant predictor of an organization's success as compared to price-to-earnings ratios, profitability, and measures of risk and volatility. Organizations that make large investments in training and education have lower employee turnover and higher customer satisfaction.

How effective is your professional  training? Does your organization see it as a value-add or as a transactional event? 

High Performing Organizations and High Performing Teams know that effective education and training will help to increase their bottom line. Period.

The military spends a lot of time, energy and money training aircraft carrier based fighter pilots for peak performance.  This professional training mitigates risk, keeps those of us on the front lines ready to ‘keep the peace’ and brings us home to our families safely.

Have you ever given thought to what successful men and women have in common? It doesn’t matter whether they are fighter pilots or in the business world, they all have been given critical professional training to enhance their experience, grow their knowledge base and increase their chance of success.

Here are Seven Top Gun Tips for Effective Training:

1. Be Enthusiastic About the material covered. Have fun! There should be no “dreaded training”.
2. Be Specific to Transfer Learning  Reduce the number of concepts taught so the learner can completely understand and use what he does learn. Memorizing 100 theories is useless to a learner if he is going to forget 95 of them as soon as he completes the class!
3. Be Honest   Never guess. Instead, when in doubt tell the learners “I don’t know, but I’ll will find out and get back to you”.
4. Use Humor   Never underestimate that a little goes a long way, this does not mean having specific skills in telling jokes, laugh at yourself when necessary.  Using humor actually makes it easier for learners to embrace new data and concepts.
5. Exotic Experience Is Remembered  Learners remember unusual examples better than ordinary ones. Be bold to illustrate concepts and identify key points. 
6. Tie-In Is Essential To Learning  The learner must see some relation to his experience in order to retain the concepts. Effective transfer of learning helps solidify the learning process.
7. Be Tactful  Treat your class with courtesy and patience.

Your employees see professional training and continuous education as a valuable benefit. High Performing Organizations thrive on training.

To drive Accelerated Execution and get the results you demand, don’t hesitate, plan your next training event or team building event today!

Happy Fourth of July!

"I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives.  I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him."

Abraham Lincoln

High Performing Organizations and Lean Six Sigma, Achieving Dramatic and Sustainable Results

Carey Lohrenz here.

80% of all Continuous Improvement programs fail. Ouch! That’s a lot of time, money and energy down the drain!

How do you prevent this from happening in your organization? Unite the existing powerful disciplines of Lean Six Sigma and High Performing Organizations for easier change management, sustainable outcomes, and rapid, dramatic gains.

I just returned from Europe after participating in two EU Operational Excellence Summits in Hungary and Italy. My keynotes focused on High Performing Organizations and Lean Six Sigma: Achieving Dramatic and Sustainable Results.

I shared how to dramatically improve results by integrating The Corps Group’s High Performing Organization framework of Leadership, Process, People and Culture with Lean’s Continuous Improvement principles and tools that focus on waste elimination and process speed.

Combining these two powerful disciplines with complementary strengths is a key to success when attempting to implement any Lean Six Sigma approach. However, it appears that the combined disciplines have not yet been widely integrated.   

This is a missed opportunity.

Listening to the audience’s questions and their struggles with implementing Continuous Improvement initiatives reaffirmed my belief that having a supportive Culture is critical to any type of Operational Excellence initiative. The need for the right kind of culture and the difficulty and process of changing/developing that culture were widely discussed.

Hint: If you think you may have a culture issue trying to implement change, you most likely do!

This is not just a European issue, but a global one.

Developing a strong Culture of Performance is essential. So how can your organization develop a Culture of Performance?

Let’s take a look at five best practices that can help you lay the groundwork for culture change and growth within your organization: 

1) Executive Buy-in. Define your Culture of Performance through actions. What we know to be true from both our military and corporate experience is that it starts at the top. Leadership needs to provide top-level support and define it through actions. Executive buy-in and support is critical.

Culture change won’t happen by mandate. Ever.

 2) Process Matters. Prepare, Execute, Debrief, Adjust.   Skip any of these steps and your risk failure. Adopt only the Lean Six Sigma Tools as needed.

 3) Develop a Culture of Learning.  It is a hallmark of carrier aviation. The idea of learning      before doing, learning during and learning after guide all that we do. This allows us to Reduce our Time to Insight™ and adjust as a team to a rapidly changing environment successfully. We do this each and every time without exception because it is so effective.

                                                                     

Think of how this applies to your world. If you are not taking the time to Debrief, how do you expect your results to improve-to capture the benefits of your Continuous Improvement Initiative? Help your team maximize their performance by taking the time to Debrief!

  4) Communicate, and then communicate some more! Involve and inform all stakeholders. Those tasked to execute the Continuous Improvement Initiative need to be able to see how what they do makes a difference. It is pointless to train people in Lean and Six Sigma if they can't understand the process and understand what is now expected of them.

People fear change. They resist it. They will resist it even more if they don’t understand why the change is happening, or if they view it as too complicated. And then they will backslide into old habits.

5) Debrief and Adjust!

Globally, organizations that are able to execute well will consistently outperform those in their industry that do not.  I know this seems like common sense, but Execution still ranks at the top of most CEO’s list of concerns today. 

Combining Lean Six Sigma and High Performing Organization practices accelerates your chance of success. If you are looking for more rapid, dramatic gains with your Operational Excellence initiative, consider simultaneously introducing these two powerful disciplines!

The Corps Group Goes Global with Strategy, Execution, and Precision

From Rio De Janeiro to Melbourne, Singapore to Delhi, Johannesburg to Amsterdam, Kansas City and Seattle, The Corps Group has worked with companies on every inhabited continent in the last several months helping them reach their goals of achieving Precision Execution.

One of the top concerns of CEOs worldwide last year was excellence in execution and consistent execution of strategy by top management.

It takes executing with precision to turn your strategic plan into a reality.

By taking the time to understand our clients and their organizations we drive Focus, Alignment and Execution at every level. 

Precision Execution.

It’s what we do!

Learn how The Corps Group methods can bring business process improvement to your organization.