SESSION 21

ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP - AN EXAMPLE

Fiction based on real life.

In the first part of the movie, there is a scene early in it that portrays a dramatic story that sounds almost unbelievable. This is a movie, but it depicts an actual event and actual people.  The movie itself is a very real depiction of real events.

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Things like this happened

When one asks why this circumstance happened, one discovers that there were organizational reasons why it did.

... because strategic bombing “was a new type of warfare, and we had to do THE WRONG STUFF in order to find out how to do it the right way."

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You don't have to read these unless you wish to, but we might touch upon them in conversation

Things to think about

While the movie is about leadership, a subtle story about organizations is being played out in the background. Think about what the characters are thinking about in terms of their particular situations, as well as in the evolution of the organization itself.

On 20 June 1941, to grant additional autonomy to the air forces and to avoid binding legislation from Congress, the War Department revised the army regulation governing the organization of Army aviation ... (the air war plan) laid out a strategic plan for the daylight bombing of Germany by unescorted heavy bombers ... Unfortunately the B-17 bomber command of the U.S. Eighth Air Force had only flown six relatively unopposed missions (and the mistake) of disregarding the need and feasibility of long-range fighter escorts was repeated. Both plans called for the destruction of the German Air Force (GAF) as a necessary requirement before campaigns against priority economic targets. (There were) four target sets in order of priority ... placing U-Boat facilities first, followed by transportation, electricity production, petroleum production, and rubber

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Things to keep in mind as you watch the first half of the movie

  • watch how the characters interact with each other
  • sense the organizational imperatives at work in this story
  • is every character just being himself, or are some of them knowingly playing a role?

Part one begins at 5:07 into the recording

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something to take away

Priya Darshini

Priya Darshini is an Indian singer/songwriter from Mumbai now residing in New York City. She received her first Grammy nomination for Best New Age Album for her debut album “Periphery” which was recorded live in a 12 hour continuous session in an abandoned church in Brooklyn, N.Y. Chesky Records released the album.

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