Important quotes you are not likely to see in Air Force literature

By Col (Ret) Larry Chandler

We need a few MMS commanders and staff officer division chiefs like those key employees described by Leonard & Swap in their HBR article.

Excerpt from Deep Smarts by Leonard & Swap

“When a person sizes up a complex situation and comes to a rapid decision that proves to be not just good but brilliant, you think, “That was smart.” After you’ve watched him do this a few times, you realize you’re in the presence of something special. It’s not raw brainpower, though that helps. It’s not emotional intelligence, either, though that, too, is often involved. It’s deep smarts, the stuff that produces that mysterious quality, good judgment. Those who have deep smarts can see the whole picture and yet zoom in on a specific problem others haven’t been able to diagnose. Almost intuitively, they can make the right decision, at the right level, with the right people” (Leonard & Swap, 2003, p. 2).

“Throughout your organization, there are people with deep smarts. Their judgment and knowledge—both explicit and tacit—are stored in their heads and hands. Their knowledge is essential. The organization cannot progress without it. You will be a more effective manager if you understand what deep smarts are, how they are cultivated, and how they can be transferred from one person to another” (Leonard & Swap, 2003, p. 2).

Excerpt from Cambridge Handbook of Experts & Expertise

Bill Gates, “Take away our best 20 people and Microsoft would become an unimportant company” (Becker, 2002, p. 8 quoted in the Cambridge Handbook of Experts & Expertise, 2006, p. 14).

I wonder if this applies to taking away the most expert (stove-piped) munitions officers from the AF munitions career field and leaving in place a cadre of “broadly qualified logistics officers who are well prepared for some future more senior logistics officer positions,” would this be similar to Bill Gates comment?