Feral Jundi

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Jundism: Steve Jobs On Life And Death–“Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish”

Filed under: Jundism — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 1:37 PM

What a sad deal. Steve Jobs of Apple fame just died, and the world just lost an incredible innovator. With that said, I wanted to post a speech he gave that was incredibly inspirational. I will also be writing this post on my trusty Mac.

Steve Jobs outlines the mental tools or philosophies of his life, that he thought would help these students. He gave three stories that described exactly what he thought was important. Anyone from any industry and walk of life can be inspired by these concepts and lessons.

The first story is about connecting the dots.  Or basically, building snowmobiles. You take everything that you have learned in your past, analyze and synthesize, and build a better idea/product/service/strategy/tactic.  Jobs dropped out of college, but took a calligraphy in his final days at that college. Low and behold, he was fascinated with calligraphy and was able to draw upon that class and experience years later when he and his partners created the Mac computer. That bit of knowledge and experience, was like the skies of his ‘snow mobile’ called the Mac computer. He connected the dots of his past to create something new. Quote from speech:

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.
Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

The second story is about love and loss. He talks about finding your passion or love, and recognize how valuable that is.  And he talks about how valuable failure or loss can be.  It forces you to re-evaluate your love affair with your subject, and it also forces you to re-invent yourself and the process. Steve goes into the story about him being let go by Apple at age 30, or to be fired by the company you started.  But then talks about the rebuilding process after that incident. That he went on to find other companies that were immensely successful, went on to find his wife, and then years later was brought back on to work at Apple–which was faltering at the time. When Jobs came back to Apple, he breathed new life and direction into the company, and lead a come back of all comebacks.

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.
I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

The final story is about death.  Something this industry deals with in the war, and a reality that Jobs was certainly dealing with at the time of this speech. His view on death as a ‘change agent’, is awesome.

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Don’t be trapped by dogma……have the courage to follow your heart and intuition….your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.  Incredible words to live by, and an incredible view about something all of us will face one day. And Steve lived these words until he died. Steve also reminds me of Boyd when it comes to idea creation and battling dogma, and having the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

I really liked the last bit of his speech. It is important to note, because this is what he felt summed up all of his thoughts on life and death, and what will get you through. It is also the back story to the title of this post.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960’s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Good stuff, and Steve Jobs is quite the man. Transcripts for the speech here. –Matt

 

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Call To Action: On 9/11, Remember The Fighting Spirit And Courage Of Civilians On Flight 93

Filed under: Call To Action,Jundism — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 1:38 PM

I am a civilian and on September 11th 2001, my fellow civilians (and citizens) of the US were attacked by terrorists. They were killed at the World Trade Center, they were killed at the Pentagon, and they were killed on Flight 93. My fellow civilians were also maimed in these attacks, and they live with those mental and physical scars every day.

On September 11th 2001, we lost many. This may have been an attack on US soil, but this was not just an attack on the US. Civilians were the main target, and the victims held nationalities from all over the world. On that day, a war was declared on civilians.

We also lost soldiers, policemen, firemen, contractors and federal employees. These men and women gave all in the defense of civilians that day. They did their job and paid an incredible sacrifice, and we will never forget what they did for us.

But my fellow civilians did not go quietly either. On Flight 93, after recognizing what the intent of the terrorists were, they decided to fight. On that flight, civilians came together to stop the evil that hijacked their plane. They charged the cockpit, wrestled control of the plane from the terrorist, and were able to prevent that plane from crashing into the capital of the United States. During that struggle, the plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania and terrorists and civilians alike all perished.

This is something to ponder. A group of civilians on a random flight, coming together for one cause to stop evil and survive. No one trained them to do what they did, no one briefed them on what to expect, no one told them to sacrifice for this country…..but they did. They decided to fight for their lives, and they were intent on stopping this evil from achieving it’s goal.

I think it is still important to pay tribute to all that died.  It is a significant world wide memory that is forever seared into all of our brains. But what is even more important to me is to remember this event as a day where civilians were empowered to fight back, and make a difference.

It is human to be sad about such loss, but we should also celebrate the fighting spirit of these civilians. It is that fighting spirit, courage, and resolve that we can all use in our daily lives, and in our world wide war against this enemy. Every flight, every subway, every public gathering should be looked at as an opportunity for civilians to stand up to our enemy. We physically ‘stand up’ by having the courage to fight this enemy where ever they may be, and we mentally ‘stand up’ by not living in fear. And of course morally, we maintain the high ground when the enemy intentionally targets our civilian populations.

We are stronger. We are more determined. We will never forget, and this ends when the enemy is reduced to a pitiful memory. It also ends when the enemy is not able to count on the fear of civilians, or that the enemy fears the very population that it targets. Not only must we never forget the loss on this terrible day, but we must also celebrate the fighting spirit and courage of these civilians on Flight 93. –Matt

Flight 93 National Memorial Campaign here.

 

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Industry Talk: A Review Of ‘States Of Security’

Filed under: Industry Talk,Weapons — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 1:06 PM

Or at least a review of the PSC part of this survey. Although I did find it disconcerting that they talked with several ‘private security commentators’ and industry professionals, but made no effort to contact this blog. I mean there are only a handful of us folks who actually work in this industry, and write about it on a day to day basis. To not recognize the significance of such a resource, tells me that perhaps they were lazy or did not care to gain that kind of insight? Such information would have made a better product, and all it would have taken is an email….Oh what a burden? lol  With that said, let me highlight some of the pros and cons of this survey.

The lack of information about PSC’s and their weapons use in the maritime security market is disappointing. These figures would have been very useful for pointing out deficiencies or strengths in this part of the industry. And if you were to make the connection between the statistic of low rates of armed PSC’s and Western Europe, and the fact that most of today’s maritime security PSC usage comes from this region, then you can see exactly what I am getting at here. If these countries are adverse to arming PSC’s, and yet those same PSC’s are the majority of security out there protecting vessels from heavily armed pirates, then that is not a good ratio.

Furthermore, their data on the types of weapons contractors are using out there is off. The type of weapons that contractors are using and have available to them, is far more varied than what they listed. I will leave it at that.

I would have also liked some more statistics and focus on homemade weaponry. With the internet and the availability of opensource information about the proper construction of weapons, I would be very curious as to the state of DIY weapons manufacturing out there. It would have also brought more attention to the concept of Opensource Military Hardware.

I do want to give praise for the effort, and it was very informative.  It was very interesting to know that there are more PSC’s than police, and yet the police and the militaries of the world have far more weapons.  To me, this is shocking. PSC’s are increasingly becoming the front line troops when it comes to terrorism, drug wars, pirates, etc., and yet here we are throwing guards into harms way without these very basic tools of defense and self protection.

I have not been able to read the rest of the survey, but I would be interested to hear about the small arms usage of terrorists, pirates, drug cartels, etc. if such a statistic could be formulated. I imagine this figure would be pretty startling. But the most disturbing aspect of such a statistic, is the idea that we are using all of these unarmed private security forces to defend against these heavily armed malcontents. I am already seeing this with the maritime security industry, and that alone has been a battle to promote the idea of putting armed guards on boats. And not just armed, but armed with sufficient firepower to deal with the potential threats.

To me, it is an issue of safety for the guard and an issue of actually providing ‘real security’ services to the client, as opposed to providing security theater. Every guard out there should be able to look their client in the eye and say ‘I am ready to take on any and all threats, in the defense of you and your property’. Guards that are unarmed or poorly trained will contribute to failure–which equates to more industry scrutiny and consternation.

The survey noted this, and also noted the important efforts of this industry to get squared away.  Things like signing the ICoC or rallying around the Montreux Document are all signs that the industry wants accountability, and they want to give the client the confidence to use their services.

But as the survey has noted, time and time again, it is the governments of the world who have dropped the ball when it comes to regulating or coming up with the laws to properly manage this industry. I have done much to highlight these deficiencies in the past on this blog, and will continue to do so. I will also continue to provide solutions for countries and clients, to help them get the best service and contract they can get out of their PSC’s and PMC’s. I will also continue to do my part to promote a business/warrior ethos called Jundism amongst my peers, as well as promote real security solutions to the world’s complex security environments.

It is also very interesting to me that the Police and Military forces of the world get far more respect than PSC’s, and yet here we are, taking on more and more responsibilities and dealing with more complex threats. Everything a cop or soldier might encounter, PSC’s could encounter as well. And yet PSC’s continue to do what they do with less arms, less legal authority, less regulation, less training, less accountability and all because we are less cost. We have ‘cheaper’ down, we have ‘faster’ down, but we still have a ways to go when it comes to ‘better’. But I am optimistic, because we are slowly evolving, learning, improving our standing as ‘better’, despite the nation state’s inability to keep up with regulations/management/accountability. –Matt

On Growth

The private security sector has been booming since the mid-1980s and continues to grow steadily (van Dijk, 2008,
p. 217). Recent estimates show that the security market is worth about USD 100–165 billion per year, and that it has
been growing at an annual rate of 7–8 per cent.4 The scale of growth is further illustrated by significant increases in
the number of personnel employed over time and across regions:

(more…)

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Jundism: In Praise Of Those Who ‘Do’….

Filed under: Jundism,Kaizen,Leadership — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 3:38 PM

‘Only accurate rifles are interesting.’ -Townsend Whelen

This is a quick post, but important. For Townsend, only accurate rifles are interesting. I like that quote, and I think it works well with what I believe in, and that is ‘only those that do are interesting’. Over the years, I have received numerous emails from readers who had the courage ‘to do’ what is right. To quote Col. John Boyd, they chose the route of ‘to do’ when they came to that great crossroads of life that everyone experiences, and they wanted to share that with me.

These men and women are my heroes, and they are what inspire me every time I work on this blog or think about how to improve this industry and war effort. They are the unsung heroes of every company, military unit or government, that had the courage to stand up and demand excellence or battle with those who are unjust.  They have also done these things at peril to self, all because being righteous sometimes equates to being unpopular or not advancing in an organization. But at least they did not compromise what they believed in, and this is what makes them more interesting and more of a leader than any of those that strive ‘to be’.

There are other moments of jundism that I hear about that motivates me. Those that came up with the better idea, and fought hard for that better idea and won, are also my heroes. They might have built a snowmobile, and created a new idea, which is really awesome. Or they might have lost the battle, all because of someone else’s ego or pride.  Either way, that individual get’s my respect for fighting the good fight.

The other thing I like to focus in on with my exchanges with the readership, either here or at Facebook, is to empower those individuals in their personal battles. To actually give them the means to win those battles through sound strategy and good intelligence. ‘Know yourself, know your enemy’, as Sun Tzu would say.  But most importantly, win without fighting.

That last part is very important.  I want my readership to win their battles, and not face casualty. That is very hard to do though, and even in my personal battles, I have lost. But I have also won some battles, and the key is to learn from those losses and continuously improve upon your ability to win future battles. And of course, the ultimate in war fighting, or the battle of wills and ideas, is to win without fighting at all.

To do this, you must know your adversaries well, and know yourself so you can figure out what ‘winning’ really means. Studying strategy, and borrowing brilliance is crucial. You must also avoid fights that end up in pyrrhic victories. Seek fights where your strength can defeat their weakness, and get that win. I want you to continue working in this industry and become a force of change, or to be the example.  That is winning.  To destroy yourself while destroying your opponent is losing in my book. Remember this when thinking of conducting legal battles, or battles with management and other individuals in your particular occupation.

Finally, it gives me great pleasure to know that jundism and this blog is bringing about a revolution in thought process. I have readers who are now students of good leadership, who are innovators, who are not afraid to do what is right, etc. They are also students of strategy and are continuously improving. These  readers and leaders have embraced these ideas, and have used them to their advantage.  It is a privilege and honor to be a part of that process and serve this family.

For those that fall under the category of ‘to be’, all I have to say is that you do not earn my respect. Although there is something I do like about this loathsome group…..  I like to study you, so I can empower those that aspire ‘to do’, to defeat you. –Matt

“Tiger, one day you will come to a fork in the road,” he said. “And you’re going to have to make a decision about which direction you want to go.” He raised his hand and pointed. “If you go that way you can be somebody. You will have to make compromises and you will have to turn your back on your friends. But you will be a member of the club and you will get promoted and you will get good assignments.”
Then Boyd raised his other hand and pointed another direction. “Or you can go that way and you can do something – something for your country and for your Air Force and for yourself. If you decide you want to do something, you may not get promoted and you may not get the good assignments and you certainly will not be a favorite of your superiors. But you won’t have to compromise yourself. You will be true to your friends and to yourself. And your work might make a difference.”
He paused and stared into the officer’s eyes and heart. “To be somebody or to do something.” In life there is often a roll call. That’s when you will have to make a decision. To be or to do. Which way will you go?”- Col. John Boyd

Monday, June 20, 2011

Books: The Profession, By Steven Pressfield

Filed under: Books,Cool Stuff,Industry Talk — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 4:17 PM

Thanks to Mark from Zenpundit for the heads up about this book. Steven Pressfield is an outstanding author and he even has a novel on the Commandant of the Marine Corp’s reading list called Gates of Fire. The book is also taught at West Point, Annapolis, the Marine Corps Basic School at Quantico, the Virginia Military Institute and at Brophy College Preparatory.(I am sure there are others) So when an author gets that much respect for his written word, I tend to perk up when he writes a novel about private military companies in the near future.

You might also remember his discussion about solutions for the Afghanistan war. Him and Jim Gant were definitely promoting some interesting solutions, and it was a pleasure back then to read and follow along. I am still following his blog and he does a fantastic job of going over the process of writing, as well as discussing history’s military lessons.

I have not read this book yet, but I definitely would like to hear what others think about it. On Amazon there are reviews to check out, and Mark had a few readers on his site that chimed in.  Here is a product description from Amazon.

 

Product Description
The “master storyteller” (Publishers Weekly) and bestselling author of Gates of Fire, The Afghan Campaign, and Killing Rommel returns with a stunning, chillingly plausible near-future thriller about the rise of a privately financed and global military industrial complex.? ?The year is 2032. The third Iran-Iraq war is over; the 11/11 dirty bomb attack on the port of Long Beach, California is receding into memory; Saudi Arabia has recently quelled a coup; Russians and Turks are clashing in the Caspian Basin; Iranian armored units, supported by the satellite and drone power of their Chinese allies, have emerged from their enclaves in Tehran and are sweeping south attempting to recapture the resource rich territory that had been stolen from them, in their view, by Lukoil, BP, and ExxonMobil and their privately-funded armies. Everywhere military force is for hire.  Oil companies, multi-national corporations and banks employ powerful, cutting-edge mercenary armies to control global chaos and protect their riches.  Even nation states enlist mercenary forces to suppress internal insurrections, hunt terrorists, and do the black bag jobs necessary to maintain the new New World Order. ? ?Force Insertion is the world’s merc monopoly. Its leader is the disgraced former United States Marine General James Salter, stripped of his command by the president for nuclear saber-rattling with the Chinese and banished to the Far East.  A grandmaster military and political strategist, Salter deftly seizes huge oil and gas fields, ultimately making himself the most powerful man in the world.  Salter’s endgame is to take vengeance on those responsible for his exile and then come home…as Commander in Chief. The only man who can stop him is the novel’s narrator, Gilbert “Gent” Gentilhomme, Salter’s most loyal foot soldier and as close to him as the son Salter lost. As this action-jammed, lightning fast, and brutally realistic novel builds to its heart-stopping climax Gent launches his personally and professionally most desperate mission: to take out his mentor and save the United States from self destruction.? ?Infused by a staggering breadth of research in military tactics and steeped in the timeless themes of the honor and valor of men at war that distinguish all of Pressfield’s fiction, The Profession is that rare novel that informs and challenges the reader almost as much as it entertains.

The only commentary I have on this, just based on the description, is that Gilbert “Gent” Gentilhomme sounds like a practitioner of Jundism. lol Or basically, he had the courage to do what is right, and stop this out of control General–that he used to idolize.

So if anyone is interested in purchasing this book, you can find it in the Jundi Gear store here. You can also check out all the reviews on Amazon while on that page, and so far the book is getting good reviews. To give you a taste, Steven has even published a chapter of this book on his site. Check it out and let me know what you think. –Matt

 

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