In a world characterized by fast-moving, fast-changing situations, a shared set of internalized knowledge and values represents the unchanging core of an organization. For that reason, every member of SOF must work to understand and appreciate SOF's core values. "We don't want to teach people two ways to use a hammer and two ways to use a screwdriver," says Schoomaker. "We want to teach them the potential of every item in the SOF toolbox. We give them the ability to use the stuff in that toolbox not only to build a house but also to make fine furniture. The whole idea is to get beyond the mechanics -- and to get into the art. So we give people principles that they can apply to any situation."
To convey the organization's core values, Schoomaker and other SOF leaders constantly share their own guiding principles -- and challenge subordinates to develop new guiding principles. Schoomaker offers one set of SOF "rules":
Take the initiative. Don't wait for answers from the top -- because they're rarely available.
Things are rarely fair. Don't count on the exception!
Truth changes: The first report is always suspect.
Expect the unexpected: Anticipate and prepare.
Plan and prepare as if there were no rules.
"I tell people other things that I've learned," says Schoomaker. "When you come up with a tactical solution, expect your enemy to make a countertactical move. Always preserve your freedom of action. Always create options. Never make a decision that boxes you in. You've got to go out on a hill and say, 'What's possible out here? What's most likely to occur?' Look at every situation as if you were in the future and you were looking back on it.
"I also tell our people to think about what it's like to be in a helicopter. Have you ever flown in a helicopter, very close to the ground? The ground, the trees, the whole scene -- everything just whizzes by. But if you gain altitude, the world slows down all of a sudden, and you can see things more clearly."
For our simulated missions, we replicate the uncertainty, the dangers, the unexpected events that happen out in the field," says Schoomaker. "A typical exercise puts a team in stressful combat situations for 12 days. We give team members a planning scenario that includes an explanation of the geopolitical context, so that they can understand the whole problem. For example: Two countries are at war, and we're going in to support one of them because that country is also under threat from an insurgency. The team's mission is to go in, to make contact with the necessary people, and to develop an indigenous force that can counter the insurgency. At that point, a series of events will occur. Team members may set up a mission to conduct a joint raid with the locals, and in the process of the raid, the locals may take significant casualties. In fact, they may lose the battle.
"Then, when it's over, we stop and say, 'Now let's go back to the beginning.' We go through the mission phase by phase, using a formal process called an After Action Review. From privates to generals, everyone who had anything to do with the operation sits down and reviews what happened. The process is facilitated by 'observer-controllers,' who ask, 'What were the conditions that caused you to do this? Why did you make that decision? Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently?'
"You have to set up an environment in which it's okay to make mistakes. Of course, not everything that goes wrong is a 'mistake.' Personal negligence, misbehavior, and disobedience, for example, are not mistakes. But if you were trying to follow your commander's intent, and you were using your best judgment, and the situation just didn't come out right, that's okay. You have to learn from that mistake -- and your commander has to learn as well. You look at every detail that could account for the mistake. You try to figure out what went wrong -- and what it will take to fix the problem."
Perhaps the greatest challenge facing Schoomaker and SOF is the ongoing need to redefine leadership and heroism in the context of the organization's new mission. In the old SOF, heroes were rough-and-ready individuals. They were worshiped for their ability to face danger, to take risks, and, perhaps most important, to act without regard to loss of life. In the new SOF, heroes are teachers. SOF evaluates its leaders on how well they train, inspire, and develop their troops -- not just one level down, but two levels down. During war games, observer-controllers regularly disrupt the chain of command to see how junior members perform under pressure. If soldiers do poorly, the responsibility for improvement and development falls on their commander.
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