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The Hunt for Red October

I’m a big fan of history, and a pretty voracious reader. Early in my career I read The Hunt For Red October by Tom Clancy. This was my first Clancy book and eventually led me to many others, but it also led me to Into the Storm: On the Ground in Iraq. I picked this book up thinking it would be some nice tactiporn. Little did I know it would become one of the great influences in my management style.

The book is set up with some backstory about how the US army was in shambles from the Vietnam War and conscription. On the other side of the world they faced a numerically superior enemy with apparently vast resources. As an aside the book is fascinating story of how typical American paranoia helped build the most lethal army in the world.

The take away I’m here for is they embraced an operational paradigm called “Mission intent”; this is a direct result of the philosophy that, no battle plan survives contact with the enemy.

 

Plan A vs Plan B

 

This post sparked a good conversation that I wanted to delve into deeper, and in particular a comment lower in the thread “Having a well-worked-out-ready-to-go-plan-B will negatively influence your plan A. You're in A for 100% or not at all." that I wanted to talk about.

We’ve all been there; hell one of our biggest acronyms has the word “Plan” as a core tenant. The oft bandied MAP, whether you say it in your head as Male Action Plan or Marriage Action Plan it is still a plan. And as the title suggest, the best laid plans often go awry. As I alluded to in a previous post, my plan was set. I had started talking to lawyers, and even had a battle chest prepared.

In the book Clancy gives the decade long history of the US Army after Vietnam. How they reinvented themselves from essentially a 20 year old WWII army of conscripts and low quality capital equipment to a professional military with the best equipment the world has ever seen on the battle field.

They went through a management philosophy change too, and that was to adopt the ideal that the Army was run by the non-coms, and that they would give them flexibility and training to do their job. Officers would plan missions based on intent, and let the trained professionals fill in the blanks. General Schwarzkopf Jr.’s entire mission for the gulf war was only 3-4 lines long. It was simple and to the point, “Free Kuwait, expel Iraqi troops” was pretty much the extent of it (I wish I could find the exact statement but my google foo is lacking on this one). He would rely on the commanders below him and the training of the non-coms to fill in the blanks. His job as OPSCOM was to provide leadership and ensure that those below him had the tools to do the job.

 

Mission Intent

 

When I set out along this path, I remembered this philosophy. I stated my mission intent and over the years it’s been tweaked and it has evolved some but in its essence it is still the same.

 

I want an awesome life, with intimate personal relationships.

 

That’s it. I’ve simplified it down to its core essence and that is pretty much it. Whenever I approach a problem head on this is the question I ask myself, “How does this meet my mission?” Intimate to me means several things, with my wife it means sexually and personally, with my friends it means I get value and they provide value. Even my job needs to provide intimacy, in the form of fulfillment and achievement.

Some people get so focused on the logistics of the mission they march head on into a situation that clearly is tactical or strategic folly. They confuse things like lifting, and shit test dismissal as the mission, when in reality it’s simply training and contact with the enemy. If you are not moving forward in ways to improve your mission then you should eliminate those things that don’t provide you value. We lift for discipline, we bust shit tests for leadership, but these are support not the mission.

Having a well-worked-out-ready-to-go-plan-B will negatively influence your plan A. You're in A for 100% or not at all.

This in particular is a fallacy. It’s too bad the user deleted himself as I thought it would have been a good point of discussion. The reason it’s a fallacy is too many people get stuck in the logistics of the project to the point that they will drive themselves off a cliff because the map said it wasn’t there. In his book Clancy discusses how the Soviets practiced their echelon theory so strictly that there were ruts in the ground from where all the tanks and trucks drove; there was no innovation or freelancing. The largely conscript Soviet army would likely drive off the proverbial cliff because “orders were orders”

The reason this is a fallacy is you two-fold. One you should be moving to the mission, and filling in the gaps with training and leadership. Two you shouldn’t be so ridged in your plans that once you did make contact with the enemy, you drove in the ruts before you to your ultimate doom, so to speak.

 

The Eye of The Hurricane

 

A couple of years ago in NJ Hurricane Sandy Swept across the state and wreaked a bunch of havoc (/u/theFamilyAlpha post got me thinking). I approached this just like any other project, with mission intent first. What was my mission? Keep my family safe and comfortable. How did I achieve it? With logistics and leadership that’s how. For the logistics, I already had a generator with a setup to run some vital things in the house, refers, furnace and charger plugs. I also have a sizable pantry with probably 10 days of non-rationed stores; it could be stretched easily. Safety was covered via firearms, firearms training and a big dog. I also had a sizeable stash of lumber for ad-hoc repairs.

The hurricane came and went, and my house had minimal damage; A fence panel down was the worst of it. Power was out, and I had plenty of gas to run the generator. A few people occasionally had a generator stolen, but in my area neighbors tended to help neighbors. I charged plenty of phones on the block. I kept a watch on the power company website, and then the bad news came. 10 days. That was going to be how long it was until power came back on.

I had a generator, and plenty of food, but I also knew my other options. School was out for until the foreseeable future. We were huddled in one room at night, because of my generators limited capacity, but we were safe and warm. So I had a choice, follow the plan or improvise. I chose the latter. We packed up what we would need, and whatever food we could. I took the generator across the street and let the neighbor use it. On the way out the door, I flipped on the stove light and asked my neighbor to call me when they saw it on. We drove 4 hours away to a relative’s house and had a nice comfortable place to stay as long as we needed it, which indecently was right at when they said it would be, 10 days from Sandy day zero.

I could have sat there, feeding the generator, playing board games with the kids, and grilling the whole time. But on the face of it, my mission was “Keep my family safe and comfortable”. When I looked around and saw, yeah they were safe, but comfort was not very high, it was an easy decision. All the tools and material I had weren’t going to do it, so we left. My mission was still the same, I just achieved it a different way.

When it was all said and done, I look back and did a post mortem. Would I do it the same again? Nope, my mission is still the same, but in the face of another “Sandy” I’ll leave before the storm. Frankly it’s a lot less work, and it still achieves the mission. The generator is just a backup, not the plan. I could get a whole house generator, and more food stores, etc. but what would happen if my roof got ripped off, or all the windows blown in? We just had a hurricane watch, and the new plan was simple. Leave before it gets here. When I was reading TheFamilyAlpha's link about the guy in Louisiana that was my first thought, “it’s too late, he should have left when he had the option”

 

Mission Achieved

 

Having a well-worked-out-ready-to-go-plan-B will negatively influence your plan A. You're in A for 100% or not at all.

 

So we see why this statement is false in so many ways. Plan A and Plan B are just options. You should always know your options. At the very least you should know what happens if you bail on your plan. In my post about the flywheel, I said I was on the brink of divorce. I had a lawyer lined up and a battle plan ready to execute. My wife came to me on actual bended knee and begged to let her back in my life. My plan was secret, my opsec was tight, and there was no way she knew it was coming. Yet I overlooked the fact that women are masters of covert communication and she felt it coming even though she never saw it. She switched to covert communication and begged me to let her back in.

I stepped back and asked, how do I meet my mission, that of I want an awesome life, with intimate personal relationships.?

I put the papers in the drawer and opted to give her two weeks and watch her actions. As I stated, it was like a switch flipped in her. She became attentive emotionally and physically, she started to be the woman I dated again. You could ask the question if it was too far gone, and should I have nexted her. I had some good friends specifically challenge me on that fact, and reality is, I’ll never know. Given my mission, I felt it made the best sense to proceed with her. I could have a more intimate relationship with my children with her in my house, then without her. Could another woman replace her? Absolutely, but on the whole I’m better off with all of them. I haven’t regretted it, but I still have those papers in a folder as a reminder to stay focused.


[–]AechzenMRP APPROVED3 points4 points  (0 children) | Copy Link

When of the best posts I've read in a long time. Thank you.

[–][deleted] 2 points2 points | Copy Link

[permanently deleted]

[–]UEMcGillMarried- MRP MODERATOR[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children) | Copy Link

No doubt, lack of mission buy in is often what gets us here. She aint buying what you're selling. So instead of telling the chain of command they're full of shit, she nags, bitches, or worse, branch swings.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children) | Copy Link

You are one of the quality posters on this sub.

[–]weakandsensitive0 points1 point  (2 children) | Copy Link

My plan was secret, my opsec was tight, and there was no way she knew it was coming. Yet I overlooked the fact that women are masters of covert communication and she felt it coming even though she never saw it.

So many guys continually and repeatedly fail to recognize subcommunication. If every guy on this subreddit learned how to subcommunicate effectively, they wouldn't have half the problems in their lives. It's also something that you can learn to do better at with practice.

The core message of this post is great. For me, my only mission statement is "I'm going to be happy." That means that everything in my life is going to be aimed at achieving this mission.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children) | Copy Link

I would say not even understand subtext, just mean what the fuck you say.

If you hold yourself to the standard you blab about, you cannot help but subcommunicate it properly

[–]BigAl73900 points1 point  (0 children) | Copy Link

Subcommunication seems to be received and interpreted much more often than overt methods!

[–]alphabeta49MRP APPROVED0 points1 point  (0 children) | Copy Link

So glad that this post lived up to the "mod" tag.

They confuse things like lifting, and shit test dismissal as the mission, when in reality it’s simply training and contact with the enemy.

I think this is a natural - though not necessary - first step. When I first discovered this place, my marriage and life was in such shambles that all I could focus on was how am I gonna stay consistent with my workouts, and how am I gonna id and crush the next shit test? But as I mastered those things, I had one of two options. 1, continue letting those things give me joy and intentionally limit my scope. Or 2, use the momentum of those little successes to broaden my horizons and look for new challenges. (1) is easy, (2) is hard.

This post was a good reminder to be constantly adapting and broadening my frame, my worldview, my domain, my sights. Always achieving, always growing, never stagnating or becoming content (or worse, apathetic).


Sidenote:

Having a well-worked-out-ready-to-go-plan-B will negatively influence your plan A. You're in A for 100% or not at all.

I think the biggest reason this is fallacious comes from CBT and stoicism. Plan A can be a well-thought-out strategy, but I am only one man. There are so many variables that I cannot control, and accepting that quickly will lead to greater success. The person who believes that statement is either stupid, naive, or a control freak.

[–]zeteomegaleio0 points1 point  (0 children) | Copy Link

That was fucking excellent. I just moved back to the tri-state area and spent some time this morning considering preparations for the winter after reading TheFamilyAlpha's post. I was prepared for hurricanes having come from the deep South, but need to set up for the new/different conditions.

Not that I expect Sandy-level destruction from a blizzard, but no electricity for even 2-3 days would be brutal in a house off the beaten path with no other heating/cooking sources.

I'll definitely consider this post in relation to that and think about the bigger picture beyond just what rations and utilities are needed, but this is a great philosophy across the board in all areas of life.

[–][deleted] 1 points1 points | Copy Link

[permanently deleted]

[–]UEMcGillMarried- MRP MODERATOR[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child) | Copy Link

Metaphorical drawer. Reality was the 'papers' were in pdf, on an encrypted virtual drive.

[–]IASGame0 points1 point  (0 children) | Copy Link

Good post, appreciated your analysis of the "Plan B". I would go further in saying that actually having a Plan B positively influences Plan A - like you said, women are good at covert and if you aren't actually willing to walk, they will typically know more than you do.

[–]The_LitzMRP APPROVED0 points1 point  (0 children) | Copy Link

Often I see people changing the mission outcome when they intend to change to plan B.

Any plan should have a certain degree of flexibility built into it to adapt to changing circumstances, the real skill lies therein knowing when to adapt. The mission, stays the same.

This is an area where I have personally made an effort in policing my actions. Am I changing the mission or the plan? Simple question, sometimes not so easy answer. The skill lies therein to distinguish which is which.

You can kill a man, but you can't kill an idea.

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