In 2010, I was an executive officer in the Navy, splitting my time between U.S. headquarters and being deployed to an international location.
When we first met, I was probably six layers down in the military structure, but General McChrystal at that time was a soldier's leader, and he was part of the task force. So everyone developed close relationships.
When the collective mentality of any organization is self and self-preservation first, it's a sure sign of pending doom.
As you move up a traditional, sort of bureaucratic structure, there's a certain point at which you realize, 'Well, I'm not really on the implementation or execution side - I'm not on the battlefield. I'm an operations person who's overseeing multiple units that are out on the ground doing the job.'
In any bureaucracy, there's a natural tendency to let the system become an excuse for inaction.
As the insurgency in Iraq started to grow, we realized this is a connected network of individual actors that can move at light speed.
