I want to thank Scott for sending me this. I was never aware of this story, even though I was in the Marines and an NCO. So this was a treat to get this in the mail the other day and read it. In summary, it is a celebration of the man with the resolve to accomplish the mission–the soldier or grunt with the ‘can do’ attitude.
The other thing I want to mention is that good healthy dissent within a group is important in order for organizations to evolve and learn and be successful. So I do not agree with companies using this type of story as a means to shut up their employees or something like that.
If anything, this story is about giving your people a mission and the freedom to accomplish that mission anyway they can. Rowan was not told the how, he was just told to do, and he did.
This story is a celebration of accomplishing the mission, and doing what it takes to get it done. It is also a celebration of the soldier or grunt who presses forward through thick and thin, using ingenuity and resolve to finish the job. And like what was mentioned before in Boykin’s book called ‘Never Surrender’–resolve is a highly desired trait in a special forces soldier. Good stuff. –Head Jundi
——————————————————————
The American officer that Hubbard referred to was Andrew Summers Rowan, a West Point graduate of 1881.
1899
A Message to Garcia
By Elbert Hubbard
In all this Cuban business there is one man stands out on the horizon of my memory like Mars at perihelion. When war broke out between Spain & the United States, it was very necessary to communicate quickly with the leader of the Insurgents. Garcia was somewhere in the mountain vastness of Cuba- no one knew where. No mail nor telegraph message could reach him. The President must secure his cooperation, and quickly.
What to do!