operational effectiveness Quotes

We ask the military to be in a position that, if we ask them to do a task, they are absolutely able to do it for us.

Before they deploy, they train for the specific operations, but there is a danger that the Army is not retaining the core of its full capabilities.

I would hate to see operations in the Congo held hostage to Sierra Leone but I really think that's the way it's got to be. At one point we've got to decide to get it right and we've got to be professional.

Morale is good; troops are confident; leaders are capable.

In real war an officer may have only one chance at succeeding. Consider each problem.

There has been a constant struggle on the part of the military element to keep the end- fighting, or readiness to fight-superior to mere administrative considerations. The military man, having to do the fighting, considers that the chief necessity; the administrator equally naturally tends to think the smooth running of the machine the most admirable quality.

... you want to be proud of how much you can get done with a small numbers of employees.

There's a fundamental distinction between strategy and operational effectiveness.

Employ every economy consistent with thoroughness, accuracy and reliability.

The first truth for special operations is that quality is more important than quantity.

Organizations are successful because of good implementation,not good business plans.

Any enterprise CEO really ought to be able to ask a question that involves connecting data across the organization, be able to run a company effectively, and especially to be able to respond to unexpected events. Most organizations are missing this ability to connect all the data together.

We want our men and women to be closely attuned to the cultures in which they operate and to speak the local language.

I’m first to recognize that I don’t think that the CIA should run paramilitary operations…. Rather than destroying everything and starting all over, we ought to take what’s good … and get rid of things beyond the competence of the CIA, then pull things together and make it more effective …. It’ not going to be easy to find a place to put covert operations. It’s very difficult to keep things secret.

In the 101st Airborne Division headquarters in Mosul, we had a sign on the wall. It was a question that we would ask ourselves before every new operation or policy initiative. It asked: Will this policy or operation take more bad guys off the streets than it creates by its conduct?

Most companies spend all their time looking for another management concept and very little time following up the one they have just taught their managers.

I like doing research that has an impact. If I went to a company to make what they call 'real money,' I'd be just trying to make a system work as fast as possible to meet the product and serice deadlines.

Technology helps us become more efficient and productive but our business still has a lot of art as opposed to strictly science.

No army has ever done so much with so little.

The art of coalition command - whether it is here in Afghanistan, whether it was in Iraq or in Bosnia or in Haiti - is to take the resources you are provided with, understand what the strengths and weaknesses are and to employ them to the best overall effect.

Using the energy in a scene can really cut the fat off of something and streamline it. It can make it work for you and activate it for you in a way.

No vision issue today is bigger than the question of efficiency versus some combination of innovation and customer service.

The vast majority of Airmen we train are going to be somewhere in harm's way within the next year or two. It is up to us to impart to them the talent and skill they need to accomplish their mission in a world-class fashion and at the same time make sure we get them back safely to the families that love them.

When I became commander of the Joint Special Operations Task Force, I was leading thousands of individuals, from Special Forces to the broader interagency effort. I quickly realized that while we had the most best and most effective operators and small teams in the world, we were unable to scale.

The moment people talk of "implementing" instead of "doing," and of "finalizing" instead of "finishing," the organization is already running a fever.