Book Review: Warfighting
 Subscribe to the Three Star Leadership Blog |
| The Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. |
| Follow me on Twitter |
| For weekly tips and resources pointers, check Wally's Three Star Leadership Letter |
| Find out more about having Wally speak to your company or convention. |
| Find out more about Wally's coaching services. |
 |
I've been reading books on leadership, and especially military leadership, for more than fifty years. There are very few of those books that I re-read. I re-read at least some of Warfighting every week.
I love giving books as gifts. But Warfighting is the only book I give away regularly. I usually have a half dozen copies on hand for the purpose.
The reason is simple. If you could only have one book on leadership and strategy, this is the one to have.
Warfighting is short. You can read it on a medium-length flight. If your flight is seriously delayed, you might finish it before you begin boarding.
Because it's short and about strategy, Warfighting invites comparison with The Art of War. They're both excellent, but if you can only have one, pick Warfighting.
Warfighting is well written in my own language. That's a big plus. With the Art of War, you're dependent on the translator. The translations are essentially the same, but they differ in several details.
Warfighting was written in my own era and culture. The Art of War was written several centuries ago in China. The use of language and references require a little more work to tease out the applications today.
Both books are about strategy. Warfighting has more about leadership.
If you get value from the Art of War, don't stop using it. But add Warfighting to your library.
Boss's Bottom Line
You should have and read a copy of Warfighting. You have two options. You can read the book Warfighting which is the original version written by General Al Gray. Or you can get a PDF copy of the updated 1997 version.
Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.
Categories: Leadership Reading, Book Review, Strategy, Leadership
Tags: Leadership Reading Book Review
Thanks for the review and links Wally - looking forward to a read this weekend (on a couple of flights like you've mentioned!).
Thanks.
Reply to this
Thanks, Jamie. I'd love to hear your evaluation once you've read the book.
Reply to this
We have discussed the glories of Warfighting before. Why hasn't a non-military author managed to create an equivalent civilian work? (Don't look at me....!) -Kirk
Reply to this
Thanks, Kirk. It's a great question. I don't have the answer, but I'd like to suggest some possibilities.
The first thought is that books this good are simply very rare.
Second, Gray's work is specific to the Marines. It may be that there are industry-specific books that do the same thing.
Third, publishers don't do many books this short. This is 90 small pages. Most business book run at least 150 standard-size pages.
Let me nominate two excellent books by business authors that I think are examples of the best there is.
Peter Drucker's duo The Effective Executive/Managing for Results would be my first nominee. I always think if them as two parts of a single book, looking and individual and firm effectiveness.
My other nominee is Charles Koch's The Science of Success. It's as close to Warfighting as anything I've seen, but the subject is managing a company, not leadership and strategy.
Reply to this
I've read the The Effective Executive. I need to read the other two.
Two thoughts:
1) I think the key is brevity. The best ideas tend to come is small-ish packages.
2) Classics can't be created on purpose. I'm certain Gray
Maybe the lesson here is to quit swinging for the fences and concentrate on just getting on base. The homeruns
-Kirk
Reply to this
I think you'll like them both. I suggest reading Managing for Results with a copy of The Effective Executive nearby.
I think you're right that Gray didn't set out to write a classic. But I think he wrote to be understood by every Marine. It seems to me that military officers who spend a lot of time in field commands also spend a lot of time writing orders which need to be clear, precise, and unambiguous. Many great generals are also great writers for that reason. Grant's orders were so well written that they're still used as an object to emulate.
I think your lesson is a good one. Let me suggest one to pair with it. If you write to be understood, you have a shot at writing a classic.
Reply to this
Thanks for sharing more about this book! (I have downloaded one when you mentioned it here the last time.) I am curious, are the 1997 updates significant? What has changed?
Reply to this
I don't think they're significant, Anna. I have the book and the PDF and refer to both. The PDF is searchable, which is good, but the book is easy to carry and read. I don't think there's any significant difference for the business. Reader.
Reply to this