What can the private sector learn from the military and vice versa?

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 12:00:00 -0500

If you are in the Reserves, National Guard, Active to private sector or private sector transition to military....

What processes, procedures, practices or styles that Corporate America (private sector) can learn from the military way and what can the military learn that can benefit the private sector?

Response by CPT Enrique M. made Feb 18 at 2016 12:13 PM

CPT Enrique M. — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 12:13:06 -0500

Chain of command from the military to the civilian side, mutual respect,etc.

I Think if we ran the military like a corporate environment when it comes to budgets I honestly think we would not have as much scope creep in projects ( additional oversight , new project requirements after a deal has been made, lot of chiefs in a development program) then we wouldn't have the monstrosity of projects like the f35 , etc

Response by MSgt James Mullis made Feb 18 at 2016 12:30 PM

MSgt James Mullis — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 12:30:35 -0500

I've always thought that the best thing the Air Force did to improve its overall quality is move personnel and especially commanders every 2 to 3 years. This allows for the dissemination of ideas and prevents the stagnation that comes with CEO's and Corporate Leadership that have been in the same position for years.

Response by SGT Matt Schiess made Feb 18 at 2016 12:53 PM

SGT Matt Schiess — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 12:53:16 -0500

The private sector could benefit greatly from the example that those in the military set.
That example is comraderie.
You will find no more closely bonded people than those that have shared the experience of the military with someone else.
Those of us that have an appreciable amount of time "in", know that the brotherhood (gender neutral) is something that cannot be broken over distance, or even time itself.
There are people I served with that I would walk through hell with. And there are people in Corporate America that I'd unplug their life support to charge my phone. There really are folks out there that bad. Sorry, not sorry.
BUT, if Corporate America could find a neat way to build a similar comeraderie they would benefit greatly.

Response by LTC Michael Hrycak made Feb 18 at 2016 1:02 PM

LTC Michael Hrycak — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 13:02:23 -0500

Although the Army has made some modifications during combat, the Military DecisionMaking Process (MDMP) is an ideal model for the private sector to follow when they are planning major "missions." Because each Subject Matter Expert (SME), and staff section, provide their input, and the commander can adopt one of the proposed Courses of Action (CoA), or designate his/her own, you have sufficient chances of success due to relevant and knowledgeable input. On the other hand, the military could learn some collegiality from the private sector. How many times have we had leaders, officers and NCO's alike, make decisions for the sake of making the decision, or, even worse, sometimes to rival one of their "competitors"? I always felt pretty comfortable addressing peers in the military, but I have seen some changes in the last decade or so, and the military should strive to continue to develop leaders, just as the private sector would benefit as well to learn from some very effective military leaders.

Response by LTC John Shaw made Feb 18 at 2016 2:23 PM

LTC John Shaw — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 14:23:33 -0500

The structured decision making process of MDMP shortened version of mission analysis and COA development are how I have made much progress in my career.

I would love to see the military experiment with Agile/Scrum frame work to resolve problems through iterations and flat organization interaction vs MDMP.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Feb 18 at 2016 2:29 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 14:29:02 -0500

Civilians can learn how we mobilize our equipment and troops.

Response by SGT William Howell made Feb 18 at 2016 5:17 PM

SGT William Howell — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 17:17:08 -0500

MSG Private RallyPoint Member This is so funny that you brought this up. The owner's son of our company has just joined our office. We are located in another city so he really on his own. His father is grooming him to take over the company at some point and I respect him for it.

He has worked in HR for a year and in accounting for a year. This is his first job leading a team of employees. He is smart and willing. Just a bit timid. Sound like any 2nd LTs we know? I have been tasked by my boss to transition him into running a group of 10 people. Now I know nothing about how to teach anything about the corporate world. I do know how to teach and lead young soldiers. After about a year I am sure he will move to corporate to continue his journey to president. Next week I am giving him a copy of the NCOs handbook although he has never even been in the military. Why? Because it is quite possibly one of the best guides for new leaders. Being able to conduct AARs, and learning TLPs will make him more ready and confident in front of his peers. I am sure I will have to dumb it down into civilian speak so he can fully understand it, but what a great read. The Army spent a couple hundred years and millions of dollars in figuring out how to teach and instill leadership into it's NCOs, why reinvent the wheel?.

The answer is yes! The private sector can get so much more out of soldiers than they will ever realize.

Response by PO2 Skip Kirkwood made Feb 18 at 2016 6:17 PM

PO2 Skip Kirkwood — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 18:17:54 -0500

Providing a leadership development environment starting day 1 at the corporation. When I joined the Navy, I was assigned leadership responsibilities even as a recruit - as were many in my RTC company. At Hospital Corps School, students were squad and platoon leaders. And everybody had collateral duties, section and division assignments, etc.

Corporations too often overlook the development of leadership abilities in their "worker bees." By the time they get promoted, it is too late, and the corporation is always trying (mostly without success) to catch up.

Response by SGT Dave Tracy made Feb 18 at 2016 7:06 PM

SGT Dave Tracy — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 19:06:23 -0500

The private sector could learn "perspective" from the military...Yeeeah, if the private sector would understand that putting a cover sheet on a TPS report is actually not a life & death decision to make, that would be great.

(Office Space allusion)

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 18 at 2016 7:48 PM

1LT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 19:48:09 -0500

I think time management and leadership over being a "boss" are some things that can be taken into the civilian sector.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 18 at 2016 8:51 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 20:51:13 -0500

Dedication! Anyone who put on or puts on the uniform is dedicated to a greater cause. No one joined for the money and in the corporate world that's all that matters....money.

Response by SSG Nathaniel Bendel made Feb 19 at 2016 9:26 PM

SSG Nathaniel Bendel — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 21:26:22 -0500

I've been thinking about this a lot lately as I transition to my leadership role in the private sector. One thing I've noticed that the private sector could learn from the military is the role of leaders. It is a leaders job to make sure their subordinates have the tools and resources they need to do their job. It is also their responsibility to teach those people how to lead and set a good example as a leader because those people may be leaders themselves one day. I also firmly believe in "praise in public, punish in private." I've been in too many meetings where an executive is tearing someone a new one. I've seen what this does to a company culture and the level of motivation amongst the employees. It's toxic.

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 23 at 2016 10:01 PM

Sgt Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 22:01:27 -0500

I don't know if the private sector can benefit on anything besides work ethic. Other than that the military could benefit by fully training people in trade personnel, not micro managing, staff nco's "subject matter experts" should actually know what their talking about...

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 26 at 2016 3:38 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 15:38:51 -0500

Coming from my project management experience working at a billion dollar organization, the military in my opinion is some waste of tax dollars and man power ever spent.

if you were to compile lean six sigma projects across the board think of how much time and money would be saved.

Think about it like this, how many projects in the military actually meet there milestones?

If this corporate environment I believe 50% of the leadership would have been fired or laid off.

Response by Sgt Bruce Taylor made Apr 23 at 2016 7:20 AM

Sgt Bruce Taylor — Sat, 23 Apr 2016 07:20:07 -0400

The amount of energy your troops dedicate to their mission is inversely related to how much you hassle them about unrelated bullshit.

Response by SGT David Racette made Mar 13 at 2022 4:50 PM

SGT David Racette — Sun, 13 Mar 2022 16:50:53 -0400

Responsibility, Respect ,and Patience.