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Corps Business

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Corps Business
The 30 management principles of the US Marine Corps

David H. Freedman

Freedman firmly believes Marine methodology creates a strong and effective organization. For those who read this book, you will probably agree. As you might expect from a book that parallels the military and business management, there are many references to training, discipline, order, and sacrifice.

However, a vast majority of the book gives a perspective of the US Marine Corps which is radically different than most people would expect.

Provided that Freedman is correct in his analysis, the US Marine Corps is an extremely focused group which is both fast, versatile, and effective in complex situations.

1) Marines aim for the 70% solution because in the battlefield, speed and boldness is more important than perfection. Put another way, indecisiveness is a fatal flaw. It is better to make small, frequent, and rapid decisions.

2) Marines find the essence of any mission. It should be made very clear. In the process, all the assumptions, boundaries (what shall we NOT do) should be questioned and explored. Dissension is invited prior to the final decision.

3) Marines are a capability based organization. They are defined by what they are able to do, and how they do it.

4) Marines push decision making to very low levels in the organization. Bureaucracy does not work in the battlefield. To quote. "The best soldiers are ones who follow orders from above, but do not depend on them."

5) The Marines are very competitive. Marines hire through trial by fire. Boot camp is a form of Darwinian natural selection. The best and fittest survive. Even after boot camp, many officers leave the Corps because they cannot be promoted, because they are not the best.

6) Leadership is defined as the ability to have others follow you. If a Marine does not follow an legitimate order, he / she can face disciplinary action, but the superior who gave the order will often find their career stop too. (It demonstrates a break in their leadership ability.)

7) Marines glorify the lower levels of the organization. The most training is at the lowest level of Marine leadership - Corporal. Even in the dress, there is little difference in dress from the officers and the privates.

8) Marines focus on the end statement. Marine leadership focus on WHAT TO DO (Mission), not HOW to DO (Details).

9) Marines reward failure. The best way to learn is through experience, and if someone does not fail from time to time, they are not pushing the envelope. Marines are focused on continuous improvement, and that requires temporary failure.

10) The Marines have passion for what they do. The Marines have an expression to describe people who just go through the motions of their job: "Going Admin"

As a U.S. citizen with no armed service background, it is easy to appreciate the value, but sometimes difficult to understand the nature of, the U.S. Armed Forces. From the outside, they appear to contain overlap in capabilities, particular with regard to the U.S. Marines. The author quickly dispels that myth as well as others, illustrating subtle differences that distinguish the Marine Corps from other services. Today, its importance as an agile force mirrors the modern threat facing the world, and perhaps represents our best model for success in future conflicts.

As a profile of the Marine Corps organization, the book is a great read, but as an organizational study, the viewpoint feels compromised and devoid of any real analysis. Eventually objective criticism is introduced but even then it is relatively mild; on discussing the subject of the Marines offering a cult-like or street gang experience to its members, the author chooses to dismiss what would appear to be a central aspect of their organization out of hand - and conveniently the one aspect that would be difficult to repeat in a lawful business setting. In the final paragraphs of the book, we discover how wide the gulf is between the two worlds. The author discusses a Marine visit on Wall Street to help them better understand how financial traders deal with the fast flow of information through monitors in a scenario similar to that of future battlefield engagements. To quote from the book: "The traders are happy as long as they win more than they lose... When losing means you bring home bodies, that's not good enough". This aspect - how little was gained by the Marines from the experience because of the differences in organizational objectives - illustrates what was generally left out of the book: the challenge of applying these structures to the business world.

The meaningful insight the book does succeed in driving home is this: the U.S. Marine Corps is not a business, and if it is, it is like no other; its economy consists of life and death; its objective is not profitability but rather avoiding any loss. It is necessarily a risk-averse activity, quite different from the risk-seeking challenge of capitalism.

No doubt, some organizational aspects mentioned are worth attempting, if only because they run against the grain of conventional business wisdom. Others, such as managing by intent and end state rather than through detailed planning and micromanagement, open up bigger issues related to corporate liability given the litigious business climate today, and this is acknowledged by the author. Many examples of these techniques applied in the business world are dubiously weak - can Webvan (now out of business) and the others mentioned here be considered successful and good application of Marine-style management techniques? What are the long-term benefits of such an approach in business? Does organizational scale have an impact on the success of these principles?

The book is most successful and insightful when it sticks to the topic of how the U.S. Marine Corps operates, and for that it is a great book that I highly recommend, but it is not necessarily a great business book.

This book is great for someone trying to transition from the Marines to the business world. As a former Marine NCO, I learned many of these principles in my career but had difficulty applying them effectively to the civilian world. This book gives excellent advice on how to do so effectively and efficiently. More importantly, I gave copies to my staff so they know how I operate and manage. It has cleared up misconceptions and opened new channels of communication and understanding.
Buy it and buy copies for your boss and your employees. It's worth it.

Excellent book, purchased after reading "Semper Fi", and found this book an excellent compliment.

I don't have a military background, but I am currently working on getting my MBA, and find that Marine leadership practices often to be effeicent and effective and getting the job done.

I have never imagine that what the Marine Corps do can be related to the business world until i read this book.
The content of this book is very interesting, as it talks about many exercises or practices of the U.S. Marine Corps that one may not easily know in normal studying life. By explaining the Marines practices, the author then implied the theory behind into an easy and understandable principle which remind all the modern managers.
In the book, the author have put a strong focus on discussing many opposing traits, for example, developing personality versus carrying organizational identity. The author suggested that there's no absolutely true theory, and everything can have two sides. What's really matter is how we strive for the balance between two opposing traits and keep our mind working well and decide the most effective action. Personally i found this inspire me very much.
Also, as a manager, our focus should always put on our employees. As the book suggested that, our employees are those who perform what a manager set and have direct contact with the customers or the frontline situation. They always have the firsthand information which provided them to have the abilities to handle the problems or challenges by their own. So, many principles are concerning how we can empower our employees so that they can have the abilities, confidence, and authority to do jobs for us.
For a manager, the principles in this book really help to refresh what should be done to manage the organization.

Having spent six years in the Marines and an equal amount of time in the civilian sector, I fully appreciate the lessons of this book. Those who are not familiar with the Marines and Marine Corps culture often carry inaccurate images of a rigid organizational structure, mindless obedience to orders and of "pixilated rifle-toters". These are images that are quite far from the truth. In fact, corporations are far more bureaucratic and rigid than are the Marines. This is out of necessity.

Since it's early history, the Marines have been tasked with a wider range of objectives than any corporation would even consider. To succeed, they have developed an organizational structure that is the evolutionary result of thousands of successes and failures spanning 226 years in "every clime and place" around the world.
This organizational structure is the most dynamic (and therefore flexible) an entity can achieve without being disorganized and Mr. Freedman does an excellent job of highlighting the principles associated with the Marine Corps methodology and how they apply to business. This book is an interesting read that will challenge today's managers to rethink their own beliefs. It is very easy to see how the various analogies presented, illustrate a much more effective management approach than the standardized, rigid and leaderless method that has infected our b-schools.
Currently I am employed as a manager in a "corporate culture" and feel frustrated in the lack of ability, professionalism and absence of vision and focus that is constantly displayed by those in my organization due to the "management system". I can not express fully my frustration and feeling of impotency at filling out three forms to order a stapler.
Today's corporations are avidly searching for a new management approach to maximizing employee value and effectiveness in a competitive and fast changing environment, but what they don't know is that the "new approach" has been in use and refined since 1775.

If you're like most people when you hear military and leadership in the same sentence, you conjure up an image of a ramrod-straight, gray-haired senior officer, the very epitome of command-and-control. Or perhaps a drill instructor wearing a smokey-bear hat with his nose just millimeters away from the nose of a fear-stricken recruit.

Based on the reports of David Freedman in Corps Business, perhaps we civilians need to re-think our images. From beginning -- an introduction by former Marine Corps commandant Charles Krulak -- to end, this book tells the story of an organization which could surely set an example for most American business. Says Krulak, "The hallmark of this fertile environment for personal and professional development is pervasive, clearly defined, and universally respected standards of conduct. These standards stress personal accountability, and our faithful adherence to them has distinguished the Corps for more than two centuries. Their influence is escapable and shapes our every action."

Here is how this unfolds through the course of the book: Marine units have always gotten and will continue to get wide-ranging assignments. They will be asked to perform critical missions in complex and confusing circumstances. But whatever the mission, the Marine Corps' values as reflected in their standards of conduct will remain constant. Mistakes will be made along the way in dealing with situations involving tension and hostility, but if you fail to meet the standards of conduct you can expect serious consequences.

Over the course of two hundred pages, Freedman offers a host of stories and points out incidents which illustrate key lessons. He has distilled these into 30 "principles" such as: PRINCIPLE #1: AIM FOR THE 70 PERCENT SOLUTION which he defines as going for the best possible decision right now given the information at hand rather than waiting for perfect information and forfeiting an opportunity to go forward toward achieving the goals.

Here's another principle: PRINCIPLE #13: MANAGE BY END STATE AND INTENT The leaders in the Marines do not want to engage in what we commonly call micro-management (and which is some cases in my experience descends even to nano-management!) Instead they focus on two things. Freedman writes that the commanders endeavor to make clear "first, how they would like the situation to end up, what the Marines refer to as 'the end state'; and second, the broader goals that they would like to achieve through the entire unit's actions, information that Marines call 'the commander's intent.'" How refreshing it would be to work for someone who trusted you and had justifiable confidence in your ability to get the job done within the context of a clear mission!

Does the Marine Corps therefore encourage blind adherence by mindless drones? Hardly. Freedman writes, "It's probably not surprising to hear that a Marine who refuses to obey a clear and legitimate order can face severe disciplinary action. What may be surprising is the fact that the officer who gave the order may find his or her own career stopped short over that same incident -- even if the order was perfectly well advised. That's because the Marines have emphasized a simple, Darwinian test as part of determining an officers? suitability for promotion: Is he or she someone who inspires people to follow?" In a civilian world where many employees are essentially volunteers (who can leave for another job at any time, and probably get a pay increase for doing just that), this is a critical test: how can you call yourself a leader if no one will follow you?

What about building those leaders who can inspire that sort of loyalty? How do you identify them and recruit them? The Marines believe that the process of selecting and grooming the next generation of leaders is a critical function. Indeed working in a recruiting role or serving as an instructor in one of their schools is a key stepping stone on the way to the senior ranks. It's not something sloughed off onto merely average people, but a reward that offers the clearest chance to help create the future of the Corps.

Entry into the Corps for commissioned officers is based on The Basic School, where the development of skills is accomplished in situations which are as nearly real as they can create. Leadership development is not however, reserved for commissioned officers. Freedman points out that most of the leadership development work is done at the lowest level of leadership -- the enlisted (or non-commissioned) officer, the corporal who leads a fire team. This is about building leadership from the ground up, in order that even the smallest units become proving grounds with the intended result that in complex and changing circumstances the leaders even at that level are already seasoned performers.

Is there a lesson for the business world in here? ...certainly ideas such as developing leadership ability at the lowest levels of the hierarchy or basing leadership on a solid set of central values or decentralizing control while centralizing command -- these seem just as applicable in the business world.

First of all, the book is fun to read. Freedman is a great writer, and he populates his story with a cast of colorful characters.

Second, Freedman's management principles are going to be very effective in certain kinds of organizations--organizations in which orders are carried out without question and well-defined lines of reporting make it very clear who is responsible for tasks. The Marines are like this, but not very many other organizations. So, while these ideas may be useful, the manager who starts applying them blindly to his or her own company may find a lot of work not getting done. Read with pleasure, use with care.

Until now, I've had only one book to recommend on change management, the excellent, Managing at the Speed of Change by Conner. With Corps Business, a wonderfully practical book, I have two recommendations. As a human resources professional working in the education industry, I was especially struck by the practicality of how the Marines plan, manage and lead change (especially when you have to change course, turn on a dime, and move in a new direction), develop decision making ability in Marines by making every decision making experience a learning experience, and by the leaders' commitment to leading, not managing. If only I could clone Colonel Davis! I have given copies of this book to people who direct business components -- from IT to R&D to Sales. It's a quick read, but the principles linger; I've found myself thinking of ways to apply the principles outlined in this book. It's also a chastening read for any manager whose staff is choking on management and starving for leadership. Well done!

There are very few books out there that help you understand how to create that great military work ethic and aptmosphere in a civillian work environment.

Corps Business reads like a story as well and covers the 30 principles perfectly. The mini-stories about how other businesses utilize these principes (even if they don't know it) provide a great 'real world' view of them.

Being a Navy veteran I have always admired our Marine Corps partners (They are part of the Dept. of the Navy) and their great espirt de corps. This book will show how it is done.

Bottom line, if you want to make a difference for your people and create a great organization at the same time (be it Government, civillian, non-profit or even military) this is definetly the book for the job.

Get one for EVERY member of the management and supervisory team!

Another good book to get is called "Smart moves for people in charge". The two should be bought together for maximum success!

Semper Fi!