Thursday, September 9, 2021
Wirearchy and the Government
I'm going to start this blog by saying that I have completly unplugged this week. Today is my birthday (51st) and I have been, and will continue to be, unplugged from most media, and out of cell range again until very late tonight. With that being said. Here is my response to this week's prompt. I'm sorry, that's classified, and you don't have a need to know.
Husband's (2014) theory on wirearchy does not now, and probably won't in the near future apply to the military or the Dept. of Defense (DoD) Heirarcy is everything, to the detriment of some aspects, and not to others. Not much changed during the pandemic for the DoD; everyone still has to show up for work, everyday. Mitigations within my agency seriously aren't permitted to be discussed... so you'll have to just trust me.
Prince (2019) writes based on the theory that future jobs are yet unknown, and while i agree with her on some jobs, I disagree as a whole. We as a society will always need people to workin jobs of service, water, food, sanitation. We will always require police, doctors, nurses... and people to raise and take care of our young. The methods or means may change, but the majority of people don't hold a college degree... only 36% of people over 25 hold a college degree, according to the 2020 census. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2020/educational-attainment.html
I think we are asking the wrong questions, and focusing on the wrong things. Stop trying to push children in a career path so early on in life. Their life skills education is suffering to make room for advanced Math, Computers, and career paths. Not many people graduate high school knowing how to create, and stick with, a budget. They are lost trying to complete their taxes, they don't know how to eat properly and take care of their physical and emotional well-being. No one has taught them how to be an adult and a useful member of society. Now, some may argue that this should be taught at home... but after a few generations of not having been taught these critical skills, how do we expect them to learn. Don't get me started on critical thinking skills...they are being taught how to take a test.
Sorry for the rant, and here's your reward for doing so... some pictures of my week.
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Nice pictures. Five years in Nebraska, and I got to visit many of the spots you and your family hit.
ReplyDeleteI'll buy the need for some jobs to remain basically unchanged...but in some ways, your complaint sounds similar to that made by those in agriculture a century ago. In 1840, 70% of the country worked in agriculture. Today about 2 percent do. With the interconnectiveness of people, things, and data, I like what Joseph Aoun proposed in his 2016 book ROBOT-PROOF, which stated that education needed to equip people with three separate literacies - technological literacy, data literacy, and importantly, human literacy (the ability to work with others).
I retired from the Navy in 1994. I am not sure I even recognize today's naval forces, with unmanned surface, subsurface and aerial platforms working in concert with manned ones. And even back in 1994, the best ships had Captains that welcomed the sharing of ideas, not lock-stepped hierarchies.
Be interested in what others think...
I'll bite. Of the three literacies proposed by Aoun which do you consider the most important? I don't believe human interaction will ever be out of fashion. The people create the technology and data but without them can innovation be iterative? To your point regarding the Navy and the best Ship Captains. "It's Your Ship" by Captain D. Micahel Abrashoff is one of my favorites. I would also argue that in the final examination, Navy Capt. Brett Crozier of the USS Roosevelt will look back on his decision to sacrifice his career for his sailors as one of his best decisions. Yes, indeed when I watched his sailors cheer him off the ship (don't say boat to a sailor :), I knew the Navy had a problem.
DeleteHAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! It looks like you have been having a wonderful time! Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteI love your point about trying to push kids into a career path too early. It was one of my responses as I was reading Prince's (2019) thoughts. I do feel that kids need to experience many different vocations. How do you suggest we give them experiences without pushing them in a specific direction?
Cameron
Prince, K. (2019, February 17). Preparing all learners for an uncertain future of work. Getting Smart. https://www.gettingsmart.com/2019/02/preparing-all-learners-for-an-uncertain-future-of-work/
Cameron,
DeleteMany years ago, when I was in school, we took home ec., woodshop, etc. today, those are all electives. It’s not that hard to change the curriculum just slightly in elementary and middle school to introduce nutrition, yoga/meditation/lead quiet time. I honestly think that community college and 2-year trade schools should be free. All of my kids (12 of them… long story) barely had anything to take in their senior year because they had doubled up on classes earlier. They wasted so much time that they could have been taking basic life skills, or intro to trades, working with their hands. It’s an endless loop of all the hard, hard classes. Not everyone should be forced to take algebra… I know I’ve personally never used it… our oldest daughter is spending 5 years in college because she has changed her major 3 times, and that’s ok, but the money ran out last year, so now she’s going to be in pretty significant debt when she graduates.
I don’t have all of the answers, and even if I did, it’s all so political now, and it’s all about the money and the budget, no one cares what I think. LOL
Thanks for the question
Thanks for sharing your great pictures! As a leader in the government, do you see visionary ideas that are squashed by naysayers? I ask because I worked under Gen Cartwright when he was Commander of U.S. Strategic Command in 2006. He had a vision for connecting mission information and updates through technology called SKYWEB. Anyone could post and provide information and updates all the way to the 4-star commander. He said he wanted everyone to use it and the more data, the better. He also said that he was willing to accept information/data that was 80% accurate but fast over 99% accurate but too slow to need. His ideas were visionary and were featured in a 2006 article (https://spacenews.com/space-jfcc-takes-global-perspective/). Rereading the article made me think about leaders using technology and wanting the workforce to comply. Sometimes the biggest naysayers are those hesitant to change and those who benefit from the status quo. What experience have you had that you think technology should be used but leaders above you were hesitant?
ReplyDeleteL,
DeleteI’ve never heard of SKYWEB… so it either didn’t come to fruition, or it developed into something else all together.
Every leader needs to make a name for themselves. Whenever a née General, director or even President takes over… it’s pretty certain everything will change. There’s no continuity.
Working in a classified environment has so many challenges, and General Keith Alexander had a vision when he was director that you could bring in a device that would authenticate itself to the classified network, and completely cut you off when you exited the building. It was never achieved. He left and the next director didn’t think it was worth the time or the money to continue.
I say this every day… it’s always about money, I don’t care what the question is, the answer is money and the budget. I’ve watched it for 15 years now kill projects and great ideas.
As far as technology used that leaders were hesitant about? I wouldn’t say they were hesitant… it just wasn’t a priority for them. I think it’s also dependent on the service. DIRNSA is currently an Army General and super smart. He’s very aware of everything going on within the Agency, but has a very different approach than Admiral Rogers did, who was also super smart and cognizant of everything around him. But the Navy has different approaches to problems than the Army, and the Air Force… well, their in their own little world sometimes.
It will be interesting to see how the Space Force leans forward. I know you’re in at the ground level of that service. How do you see them evolving? Will they follow in the Air Force’s footsteps with leadership strategies? Or forge their own path?
Beth
Wow. Typos abound… and I can’t edit them
DeleteSMH
Beth, regarding continuity, Jim Stavridis had an interesting insight in an article he did for Time regarding our fight in Afghanistan - https://time.com/6090623/afghanistan-us-military-lessons/ - noting "...Central to all of this was the U.S. military leadership in the fight... we simply rotated them too frequently. If we had fought World War II by limiting General Eisenhower or Admiral Nimitz to one year tours of duty, the outcome would have been different, to say the least. We made the same mistake in Vietnam, where everyone was on a one year tour, and the outcome was a disaster."
DeleteHi Beth,
ReplyDeleteI SO agree with your statement on pushing children into career paths super early. I am a product of that and as a millennial, I notice that my cohort values different aspects of "working" compared to other generations. We tend to value balance within in lives and our mental health as important things to consider before taking on a position.
Since all education for children transitioned to remote for most of last year, that this helped or continued to hurt the development of critical skill within children?
Best,
Brandi
Brandi,
DeleteRemote learning isn’t for everyone, that is certain. I think it pointed out places where children need to focus their attention. For instance, many found out how amazing, or terrible their time management skills were. I agree with Steve’s comments that critical thinking needs to be taught within many subjects, they need to figure things out for themselves, rather than being given the answers to study for a test. It’s all about fill in the blank these days.
All of my children are either Gen Z or millennials, and I can definitely see a difference between them, both positive and negative.
Hi Beth - Happy birthday!
ReplyDeleteI believe the topic of teaching (or lack thereof) some of the practical skills you mentioned (i.e., tax preparation, emotional and physical well-being, etc.) has come up numerous times in the past.
I guess we should ask: Have we filtered (Kelly, 2016) education to the point of inefficiency? And is more filtering, to address the gaps mentioned, the solution?
Kye Wagner (2018) offers some interesting suggestions based on Montessori practices, which could aid in closing the gaps you cited. Give it a quick look if you get a chance: https://www.gettingsmart.com/2018/08/why-students-need-practical-skills-and-how-to-teach-them/
Thanks,
Dan
References
Kelly, K. (2016). The inevitable: Understanding the 12 technological forces that will shape your future. Penguin Books.
Wagner, K. (2018, August 2018). Why students need practical skills and how to teach them. Getting Smart. https://www.gettingsmart.com/2018/08/why-students-need-practical-skills-and-how-to-teach-them/
Hello Beth,
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday! Last week was my birthday, and my older daughter's birthday is at the end of the month. It is the best month for birthdays. I do wish everyone agreed we needed police, it might make the profession reform and advance at a more acceptable pace rather than fighting against the unrealistic items that get put forth, and then nothing actually gets accomplished. I would digress getting into that though, but to your point you are correct that some professions will always be needed in-person and will remain hierarchical.
I understand your frustrations these days, although I'm not sure how different it is. Our generations or earlier it just was not as pronounced given many of the professions (i.e., less technology). You can hide the inability to think critically with less transparency, less videos everywhere, less access, etc.... However, critical thinking is how I start the first post of every one of the graduate courses I teach in forensic science as an example, or for incident response in terms of cyber security. It is key. In terms of starting early, you are so right about those fundamental skills that are lacking and they need to be taught. I do disagree though that getting kids going early on possible career tracks isn't good. I think it is a great idea and I love the curriculum, well the thought and the approach with evolution that I am sure will occur, that cyber.org has put out or the forensic science education. I think the idea is that you weave in the items you mentioned into the career type teaching. For example, maybe you cover budgets in a management element of a career, and critical thinking should be woven into all things. I do like your question Dan about whether education has been filtered to the point of inefficiency? I do think it has, but location (i.e., where you go) does matter. That is unfortunate because it will create a bigger divide as those that have the resources to seek out the best teaching will excel and those that can't may not (i.e., "may not"....they might still kick butt). I do agree completely that teaching to a test, for the reasons I see it done in school today, is really a bad idea!
Great photos! Looks like a good time.
Steve O'
I agree that the government failing to understand the vast amount of data it was collecting via the satellites led to failure to prevent some of the attacks. There were numerous conversations the government was yet to translate and many photographs that the government was yet to examine. The increased 9/11 terrorist attacks resulted in the shifting of the US intelligence community. As a result, policymakers shifted to the creation of new organizations to reduce the increasing intelligence failures. Indeed, that funding is key to the success of all intelligence processes. According to Davis et al. (2010), the government has shifted resources to the different intelligence organizations to increase their capabilities in threats assessment. Law enforcement agencies participate in nationwide threats assessments to avert terrorist attacks.
ReplyDeleteReferences
Davis, L. M., Pollard, M., Ward, K., Wilson, J. M., & Varda, D. M. (2010). Long-Term Effects of Law Enforcement1s Post-9/11 Focus on Counterterrorism and Homeland Security. RAND Corporation