HerbEly

Intelligence Failures are Failures of Imagination

Thomas Friedman in the New York Times made this point on Sunday. Even if we had had perfect intelligence, we lacked the imagination to put the pieces together. This was true about 9/11, Pearl Harbor, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and many other intelligence failures. Sidney Finkelstein has explored the disastrous impact of mindset in the business world. It applies to intelligence and the church as well. The real heroes are the people who challenge the institutional mindset, telling the institution that if it is not true to its mission, bad things will happen. In biblical times we called these people prophets. In modern times they are whistle blowers, publicity hounds, malcontents, or just a general “pain in the …” The problem is that it is hard to tell a prophet from a Cassandra until after the disaster has occurred.

Thick & Thin Envelopes: Be of Good Cheer

We have watched our three sons, a daughter, a neice and nephew run the college admissions gauntlet. Sunday’s Washington Post ran an excellent column by Patricia Dalton on the pressures facing High School students and their parents. Her words recalled memories of young friends who found success and happiness even though they were deeply disappointed at receiving “thin envelopes” from elite colleges.

As I watch my many young friends in the Key clubs sponsored by Kiwanis Club of Charlottesville go through these last few days of waiting for the mail, I want to say: “Be of good cheer. You are talented young people. Your lives are under the care of a power higher than any admissions officer. Relax, Have faith, work hard and you will find a future filled with opportunities.

Spirituality of Snowboarding

Anglican priest Neil Elliot is doing a dissertation on the Spirituality of Snowboarding. The unusual title set me to thinking about the theology of the body. In looking at this site by Christopher West, I’m struck by the focus on sexuality. This leaves out issues in mind/body medicine, emotional intelligence, and spirtual teachings in the martial arts. Sports psychlogists and business writers have much more to say about mind body integration. Disciplines that improve it lead to better performance in business and life. If you want to read about body spirituality, forget the theologians and start with Running and Being. Even better, get involved in some activity that requires integration of mind, body, and emotions – golf or piano will do. Then meditate upon the Shema: "Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest." Dt.6:4-7.

Thanks, Amy

My son David suggested that I start this blog as a way of gaining recognition for the poetry of my mother, Marie Schmitt Ely (1914-1946) . Since then, it has morphed into a vehicle for expressing opinions on a number of topics having to do with religion, politics and busness. Thanks to Amy Wellborn for posting my link in her excellent blog. It has given me a real boost.

Spirituality at Work

My next workshop will be based on Gregory F.A. Pierce’s book Spirtuality@Work. A spirituality that can be found only on a mountaintop or in a monastery won’t work for those of us who have responsibilities in the world. At the same time, spirituality should reinforce, and not interfere, with our work. This assumes, that our work is a both creative and a service to our public. To this end, he advocates on the job disciplines or spiritual practices. These include some very basic practices such as Giving thanks and congratulation for a job well done and finding a balance between striving for quality and living with imperfection.

See my review for a more complete discussion of these ten disciplines.

Ambiguous Warnings of Terrorism

Richard Clarke, former terrorism advisor to the Bush administration has provoked a controversy with his new book. While the controversy rages about whether the administration ignored warnings, there are a three points to keep in mind.

First, retired intelligence analysts have a very natural temptation to issue a plaintive cry of “I warned them but they didn’t pay attention to me.” (“Poor me.”)

Second, warnings are almost always ambiguous. The warning officer’s dilemma is best illustrated by the old story of a British warnings officer who retired in 1950. His last task was to train a young, still wet-behind –ears-analyst. “Son, “ he said, “when I was young and inexperienced, I often received messages saying that the Germans were ready to attack and I should awaken the Prime Minister. Every time, I examined the reports, found them unconvincing, and did not pass the warning to the Prime minister. I’m proud to say that I was only wrong twice.” Of necessity, warnings are always based on incomplete evidence. This brings us to the third point.

In most cases, (Pearl Harbor, 9/11, and the end of the cold war), a historians will be able to show that adequate information was available. However, the mindset of analysts and decision makers prevented them from correctly perceiving the information. An incorrect mindset can lead to failure to act in time (Pearl Harbor). It can also lead to a premature action (the danger of an even a partially successful Iraqi WMD program justified a pre-emptive attack).

The critics are now quick to say that the Bush and Clinton administrations failed to anticipate 9/11. They can serve the country by investigating the causes of failure. They would do well to remember an old Virginia proverb: “Hindsight is better than foresight by a darn-sight.”

Why Smart Executives (and Bishops) Fail

The National Review Board has issued its report on sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests. Now we can ask the tough question: why did the bishops ignore, and hide, this ugly reality for over 20 years? There will be extensive commentary on the causes, much of it dedicated to demonstrating that the reforms of Vatican II were – or were not – responsible. Since I report as an observer at the "intersection between church … and business", I suggest a different perspective.

Business schools are dedicated to teaching executives how to improve personal and organizational performance. For example,Sidney Finkelstein, at Dartmouth, has conducted extensive case studies of how successful exucutives ignored reality until they failed. Hard working and intelligent executives fail, he suggests because:

- of a flawed mindset that distort a company’s perception of reality
- delusional attitudes that keep this inaccurate reality in place
- breakdown in communications systems developed to handle potentially urgent information.
- leadership qualities that keep a company’s executives from correcting their course.

In the March 12 issue of Commonweal Andrew Greeley suggests, “Many in Rome and elsewhere contend that the Church does not need social science because it has the Holy Spirit.” Greeley is correct. The Church could set aside its internal doctrinal controversies and examine its leadership failures. Barring a miracle, it won’t.

War on Terror a Bad Metaphor

Columnist Diana West makes an important point. Terror is an emotion and terrorism is a tactic. This is important because political rhetoric about a “war on terror” doesn’t help. While it may get votes, I can’t see how anyone can devise objectives that a military can achieve to eliminate an emotion or a tactic. One of the lessons the military learned from Vietnam is that lack of clear objectives contributed to strategic failure. Von Clausewitz wrote that “No one starts a war – or rather, no one in his senses should do so – without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it.” The just war theologians ought to agree with Von C, at least to this extent: it is impossible to reach a conclusion about the “just cause” criteria unless the administration clearly states it purpose and takes it to congress for approval.(If interested, you can order Michael Howard’s masterful short introduction to Von C, by clicking on the icon at the left.)
Adopting war on terror (or crime, poverty, or drugs) as a metaphor makes it impossible to write a strategy. How can a military action destroy an emotion or a tactic? If one proposes war on a terrorist network, it is possible, but difficult, to conceive of actions that will reduce the threat worldwide.

The Zombie Threat

My son, David, has just seen film "the Dawn of the Dead". He recognized that the government is not prepared to deal with the threat of an attack by zombies and has applied his William and Mary education to develop a policy proposal for the US government to use. Makes a father proud.

News Flash: Church Good for Children!

According to this morning's Washington Post parents would do better to spend less effort and funds on SAT prep classes, swim practices, etc and simply take their children to church. This is the conclusion of a commission last year at Dartmouth Medical school. My headline betrays my general cynicism about the news media. When responsible research demonstrates that religion tends to improve children's physical. emotional and academic performance, it is news. Give the Post credit; they put it on the front page of Sunday's Style section. If you want to delve into the entire report try the Institute of American Values.