Task Force 360: Because Military Leadership Is More Important Than A Hamburger

2018-04-30T15:01:03-04:00

If you want to find a good burger joint, Yelp provides ratings and reviews from thousands of people to help you decide. If you’re buying anything from shoes to electronics, Amazon provides similar information. If you’re job hunting in the private sector, go to Glassdoor. The site reviews employers on everything from corporate leadership to values to work-life balance.

That’s right - there’s more information online to help you choose a burger or a pair of shoes than to find out about a military unit. If you believe that military leadership is more important than buying a hamburger, then we’ve got some work to do.

I propose that RallyPoint host Task Force 360: a service dedicated to providing 360-degree feedback on military organizations. As the name suggests, 360-degree feedback gathers information from every level of an organization to create an accurate picture of its leadership environment. Does the unit get the job done? How does it treat people? Does it recognize and reward great performance?

Junior members of an organization can use this information to get a better picture of an organization they’re joining. Mid-level leaders can use this data to make choices about assignments. Senior leaders can use 360-degree feedback to build on a unit’s strengths and fix its weaknesses.

I was one of the first tactical battalion commanders in the Army to use 360 feedback. Unlike some other surveys, I made the results about unit performance public for everybody to see - the good, the bad and the ugly. My Command Sergeant Major and I then went to work to fix the issues that 360 feedback helped us identify.

This information can be tracked over time. If a unit’s score for mission accomplishment or treatment of people spikes upward or takes a dive, unit leaders can use that information to make adjustments.

Through Task Force 360, you can provide numerical ratings on a 1-10 scale as well as free text comments. You’ll be able to upload media, like pictures, videos or documents to help paint a clear picture of the organization. Others can upvote or downvote your comments, so that you can see how your views compare with others. You can keep your rating anonymous or attach your name to it.

Imagine you were asked to rate a current or past unit on the questions below, using a 1-10 scale (10=very much so, 1=not at all)

Does the unit:

1. Accomplish the mission?
2. Treat people with dignity and respect?
3. Follow the letter and spirit of law and policy?
4. Tell the truth?
5. Spend taxpayer money wisely?
6. Promote a healthy work-life balance?
7. Provide clear expectations and necessary resources to accomplish the mission?
8. Coach and mentor members of the unit?
9. Value input from all levels of the organization?
10. Recognize and reward excellent performance?

Would you be willing to provide this information? Would you find these ratings valuable? Are we asking the right questions?

RallyPoint was founded to help make military life better. Task Force 360 can help.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 30 at 2018 3:42 PM

2018-04-30T15:42:26-04:00

I like the idea. It poses a few question in my mind though.
1. Are these surveys mandatory? If so, I've seen too many people blow through the already mandatory surveys we have to do in the Army to trust the outcomes. I've even heard people say "It'll just take 10 minutes if you just select 10 on everything and don't read the questions". If it's voluntary I feel like the majority of survey takers would do it because they have a gripe. That would skew the results too. Just a thought.
2. I'm trying to imagine an E-2 answering the questions you listed and can't see a lot of beneficial information coming from it. For instance, 'Does the unit treat people with dignity and respect', will be answered with only the squad leader and maybe platoon leader/sergeant in mind. That answer is not indicative of a battalion or even a company necessarily. 'Does the unit tell the truth?' Again, most soldiers answers will be limited to a select few individuals. And I'm guessing that 95% of a battalion has no idea how the unit spends money.

However, if the soldier taking the survey has to enter his name, company, platoon, squad, etc. then I see us getting somewhere. That way, even if across the battalion 95% of the soldiers say they're treated with dignity and respect but all of A Co. 2nd PLT, 3rd SQD say they're not, then we know where the problem lies.

Not trying to knock the idea. I think it could be beneficial if done correctly. And you may have already addressed issues like this or they may not be the problem I suspect them to be. Just throwing them out there.

Response by LTC Jeff Shearer made Apr 30 at 2018 6:15 PM

2018-04-30T18:15:17-04:00

Paul, it has been a few years since I was BC I guess things have changed. I spent as much time as possible away from a desk on ranges, in airplanes, in remote ugly place with my guys. I am sure modern technology is making the military a better and more efficient place. I love technology, however, big caution coming from a knuckle dragging barbarian, I have a feeling this would almost isolate the command. I am sure there are many positives and some negatives I would be very cautious about letting that replace on the ground taking and observing your unit and men/women. I have no idea how many hours, many, many hours I spent with different members of my Battalion all different ranks, discussing every thing. I discussed everything from death in family, new births, parts of the unit that were broken and needed to be fixed. Many more times they would pass the information through different O's and NCO's. I did my best to have an environment if something was broken or could be done better it was suggested. Dont get me wrong I was all about fixing things but I did not have much patience for bitching because your little girl parts hurt. My response was normally something along the lines of this is a fucking SF unit they did not give that green beret so you could be a sissy. Paul my guys knew I loved them, I considered them my family, and I was in the middle of whatever I could physically be in.

I realize I am just ranting about my glory days but I never used the 360 program and I am sure it can benefit. Maybe it is good thing I got hurt and had to retire hahaa

Response by LTC Dallas Powell made Apr 30 at 2018 6:36 PM

2018-04-30T18:36:52-04:00

I'm all for it, but wouldn't the constant turnover in all-military units kind of skew the results? (My battalion has a LOT of civilians, so much less turnover.)

Response by SSG William Jones made Apr 30 at 2018 8:19 PM

2018-04-30T20:19:02-04:00

EXCELLENT IDEA!!! There's a wealth of potential in this.

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made May 1 at 2018 7:50 AM

2018-05-01T07:50:34-04:00

Thank you sir for the info.

Response by SSgt GG-15 RET Jim Lint made May 1 at 2018 8:35 PM

2018-05-01T20:35:13-04:00

I thought the IG did 360 Surveys, and we also had one for leaders in both the Army and Civil Service.
Could you get some people trying to destroy leadership with public information. How do you determine if the source of information just got two Article 15s and going for a Court Martial? Does that maggot have equal voice? Does that help others? Does that hurt or slant perception?
How is different from the Army and Civ Service program. In civil service attending the Pre-Executive Courses required 360 Reviews for COL level positions.

https://www.army.mil/standto/archive_2016-03-15

https://www.army.mil/standto/archive_2014-12-05

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Response by ADM John Harvey made May 5 at 2018 5:14 PM

2018-05-05T17:14:58-04:00

Eventually I believe the services will make 360s routine for those in command and Flag/General Officers.
The benefits are immense from weeding out toxic or abusive leaders to helping leaders improve their performance.
Advancements in data analytics will enable the services to conduct these surveys with confidence that the results are accurate and can be acted upon.
I hope the day when 360s are routine comes soon - those who lead and those who are led deserve no less. JCHjr

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made May 16 at 2018 9:40 PM

2018-05-16T21:40:23-04:00

I think it's a step in the right direction, but I would focus more on surveying an installation as a whole while making information about the command teams, a
unit history, and maybe significant personality traits or recurring events easily accessible. We have little say in where the military sends us, and a unit with less than spectacular feedback publicized so openly could skew perception and expectations before newcomers even get a chance to view the reality with fresh perspectives and bring in new ideas. Organizations could be forced into deeper ruts, despite improvements or entirely new commands taking charge, if newcomers arrived with bad expectations (read: negativity bias). If they would get around to fixing the MSAF 360 site and promote its /voluntary/ use, we could profit from the same broad feedback without the negative potentials. Hand-in-hand, those two systems would work well to give newcomers better expectation management while providing leaders and tenent personnel with lines for more open communication.