Feedback and Adaptable Teaching Boost Commando Performance

This is one of a series of articles on lessons from Commando training. Here is the full list.


Feedback and adaptable teaching styles are valuable performance enhancing tools even in the toughest environments.

I recently joined a group of former Royal Marines at an update briefing from the Commandant of the Commando Training Centre, Brigadier Ged Salzano, at the Royal United Services Institute in Whitehall. He shared some impressive statistics with us but also gave some great insights into how Commando training is adapting to incorporate lessons learned from educational psychology - and gamification.

At a time when all the armed forces are facing cuts, the Royal Marines have been building the case for investing in Commando forces, focusing on the quality and value that the Corps offers. This effort is extensive and detailed, but among the many figures that have been drawn together, I was particularly struck by a trio that demonstrate the improving quality both of the Commando training process, and of the raw material that goes through that process and emerges as a trained Royal Marine:

1. 62% of all recruits entering training now pass out successfully, up from 53%.
2. 80% of all recruits have at least 5 GCSEs at grade C or above.
3. 40% of recruits are academically qualified to be commissioned officers.

Brigadier Salzano illustrated this last point by mentioning that his Marine driver had a degree in Economics and that they had spent the journey to London discussing economic policy.

The Nod Whisperer

One of the key contributions to the improving pass out rate comes from an educational psychologist on the staff at the Commando Training Centre. When individual recruits struggle with a stage of training the educational psychologist will take an interest and may suggest different ways of approaching the learning challenge that takes account of the particular disposition of the recruit.

Since Royal Marine recruits are known as "nods", the educational psychologist has become known as the Nod Whisperer.

Recently the Nod Whisperer suggested that 3 recruits who were struggling to master the 30 foot rope climb may have unacknowledged vertigo. The recruits denied fear of heights, but agreed to try climbing wearing blindfolds - and promptly completed the climb successfully. Having cracked it once blindfolded they were then able to complete it without their eyes being covered.

Britain's Got Talented Corporals

Another training innovation is a feedback system in which the recruits in each troop vote for the Corporal that they consider to be giving the best instruction. When the troop passes out and the Corporals are due for posting to different units, the most voted-for Corporals are given first choice and a letter is written to their new Commanding Officer commending them for their performance.

This simple piece of gamification both encourages and rewards ever-improving standards of instruction, and directly contributes to the improving pass out rate of the Commando Training Centre. I've written about how games and recognition can boost team performance - and the Commando Training Centre is providing more evidence.

While some believe that the armed forces are bound by rank, convention and deference, here is a demonstration that even in the toughest conditions the Royal Marines have realised that valuable lessons can come from teaching theorists and the pupils themselves, as well as the teachers. This insight is surely valuable far beyond the Commando Training Centre...

This is one of a series of articles on lessons from Commando training. Here is the full list.

A grizzly story of loyalty

Jan with Ted

This is one of a series of posts about boosting loyalty and engagement among customers, employees and investors.

Bear with me

Yesterday I visited Tedworth House, the new Personnel Recovery Centre from Help for Heroes. I was there to see the CFO of H4H, and he showed me around the amazing facilities that they are building to look after recovering servicemen and women.

Jonathan brought me a cup of coffee at the canteen and paid using a card. He carries an impressive collection of loyalty cards, and as Jan behind the counter made the coffee he told me a story about loyalty which clearly shows why Help for Heroes has done such a great job of capturing the public loyalty in the last 4 years.

I asked about the roles played by contractors at Tedworth House. I had noticed that Jan was working for a separate organisation called Blue Apple. Jonathan explained that engaging with contractors was a high priority at Help for Heroes, and that with so many different experts involved in the recovery process it was essential to help everyone feel fully involved. Then he told me about a recent crime.

Unbearable

The ransom note

The Tedworth House mascot is a large bear, naturally called Ted, and he lives behind the canteen. A few months ago, Ted disappeared. Shortly after his disappearance, a ransom note appeared, demanding that the canteen staff raise money for Help for Heroes to secure Ted's return. Further photos appeared showing a blindfolded Ted with menacing looking masked guards.

Jan and her colleague from Blue Apple set about collecting funds and quickly hit their fundraising target, but the kidnappers - or bearnappers as they became known - continued to demand more.

Eventually Ted was released, and when I visited he was seated in comfort in the canteen, where I photographed him with a relieved Jan.

Honey trap

Jan and her team mates are committed to the work of Help for Heroes and even though they are employed by a separate organisation they play a valuable part in the life and vibrancy of the recovery centre, which is a positive and optimistic place. As a visitor I was really impressed how Jan and her colleagues are an integral part of the Help for Heroes story. After all, leadership is largely about storytelling - narrative gives a focus for loyalty. And of course praise for great suppliers is always important.
Jonathan told me another story of a leader in action building loyalty - and recognising the contributions of suppliers. Though Tedworth House is already a great facility, Help for Heroes has plans to make it even better, and much of the site is humming with builders and construction machinery. Bryn Parry, the founder of Help for Heroes, gathered the builders from Vinci, the building contractor, on the first day of a 26 week project, invited a couple of wounded soldiers to speak to them, presented each of them with a H4H Tshirt, and explained how important their work was. The Vinci team completed their 26 week project in 16 weeks, with builders volunteering to work 100 hour weeks to keep the project moving.

Help for Heroes is doing a great job looking after the wounded, but it is also a fine example of loyalty-building and leadership. And if you are looking for good examples in catering and construction, I can certainly recommend Blue Apple and Vinci!

The Tattoo Test - Where Are You On The Loyalty Spectrum?

This is the first in a series of posts about boosting loyalty and engagement among customers, employees and investors.

In 2012 loyalty building expertise will be a key advantage for organisations from retail to financial services as austerity bites and consumer, employee and investor confidence is put to the test. In tough times a proactive approach will build bonds that embed loyalty for years to come. In coming posts I'll be exploring some of the tried and tested, and some of the emerging loyalty and engagement techniques, including

• loyalty among suppliers
• skin in the game
• social marketing and word of mouth
• points based loyalty schemes
• employer loyalty
• crowdfunding

But first let's establish where you are on the loyalty spectrum - it's time to take the Tattoo Test.

How passionate are you about your work? Or about the companies from whom you buy goods and services? Or about your favourite sports team? Would you consider getting a tattoo of their name or logo?

This is one of the most extreme tests of brand loyalty - would you permanently and painfully mark yourself to show your commitment? Here is a list of common tattoo choices:

1. Mum & Dad
2. Girlfriend / Boyfriend / Husband / Wife
3. Sports Team
4. Employer
5. Favoured Brand

If you have any of these tattoos then you are demonstrating real commitment and loyalty - and if you are the mum, dad, bf, gf, husband, wife or brand owner involved then you have achieved a marketing milestone - you have embedded yourself indelibly. If you don't have a tattoo of your own, think of the tattooing choices of people you know and what they indicate about their personal and tribal loyalties.

Incidentally, the only more extreme test is the branding test - the origin of the term "brand" - in which your imprint is burned on with a hot iron!

After completing my Royal Marines training in 1996, I worked with and Army unit in Northern Ireland. 7 of my fellow subalterns (junior officers) decided to add a tattoo their regimental crest to their right buttocks. For years afterwards whenever they encountered each other a photograph was taken showing the tattoos. Now the tattoos are blue smudges and the regimental crest is hard to recognise, but the loyalty remains. They encouraged me to get a tattoo of the Globe and Laurel or a Commando Dagger tattooed on my bum too, but that's all behind me now...

What's In A Name?

There is an article in the current edition of The Economist (Baby Names, Thanks Mum) which explores the different rules around the world for baby names. For example, it is illegal to call your child "*" in New Zealand. Using names that suggest rank is also banned in NZ - so perhaps "My Name is Earl" is not broadcast there.

More interestingly, there is evidence that people called George are more likely to become Geologists, while a Dennis is more likely than most to become a Dentist.

Since many of our names derive from our real or hoped-for activities (surnames often reflect profession or trade) while given names are often encouragements to virtue or success - for example "Patience Potter".

I've long wondered the extent to which names are destiny - in other words whether causation flows from the name to the nature rather than the other way round. Are people called Patience really more patient? Would that which we call a Rose by any other name smell as sweet?

I think HR departments may have some explaining to do here. The British military spokesman in former Yugoslavia in the 1990s was a Colonel Coward. He was replaced by a Colonel Chicken - was this pure coincidence? I once visited a Royal Navy ship whose captain was called Commander Thicknesse. He was replaced by Commander Bone ("bone" is military slang for "stupid").

And do people with problematic surnames suffer in the marketplace - both professionally and personally? Is Miss Hoare more likely to marry hastily and Mr Snodgrass more likely to remain a batchelor? Is Master D'eath drawn irresistably towards medicine?

Do you have any experience of nominal determinism? If so please share!

A Farmer's Prescription for Growth

I celebrated the start of 2012 staying with friends in the countryside. As I made coffee on new year's morning, I saw a tea-towel hanging above the stove. On it was written a testament to farmers, and I think it provides a compelling argument for growth and balanced budgets - the perfect prescription for what will for many be an austere year...

     Let the wealthy and great
     Roll in splendour and state.
     I envy them not, I declare it.
     I eat my own lamb,
     My own chickens and ham.
     I shear my own fleece and I wear it.
     I have lawns, I have bowers,
     I have fruits, I have flowers,
     The lark is my morning alarmer.
     So jolly boys now
     Here's God speed the plough
     Long life and success to the farmer.

I wish you long life and success for 2012!

Space Invaders - a game to see in the new year

If you're staying up to see in the new year, here's a game you might want to try to while away the hours until midnight.

I was introduced to this game on Exercise Tenderfoot, the first week-long exercise in my training in the Royal Marines. One afternoon we were waiting for an instructor to arrive and one of our section leaders introduced us to this game to while away the time.

If you've spent the last few days sharpening your reflexes on a Nintendo Wii, PlayStation PS3 or Microsoft Xbox, you are probably honed and ready for this - it's a real-world recreation of a classic computer game - Space Invaders.

You will need:

1. A supply of soft projectiles - foam balls, tomatoes etc
2. A large room or rectangular space
3. About 30 friends 

Now organise your friends. Their roles are:

• 1 defender
• 1 "special"
• 28 invaders
• 1 drill instructor - you

Next ask your invaders to line up in 7 rows (with 4 in each row) with an arm's length between each row, along one wall of the room and facing the opposite wall. The defender waits against the opposite wall with the supply of projectiles.

As the drill instructor, you need to manage the invaders. Take command! When you shout "One", they must snap to attention, with their feet together and their arms by their sides. When you shout "Two" they should step their left foot to their left, squatting down and raising their arms to the "I surrender" position. When you shout "One" again, they return to the attention position by brining their right foot up to their left.

As you command "One, Two, One, Two, One, Two..." the invaders will move to their left  (and the defender's right) until they reach the wall. At this point you give the command "Three" at which point they all take one pace forwards. Now they start each "Two" move with their right foot, moving to their right.

While your invaders begin their advance towards the defender, he or she attempts to stop them with the projectiles. Each invader hit by a projectile is knocked out of the game and moves off the playing area. The invaders win if any of them reach the defender's wall before being hit by projectiles.

The "special" runs along the wall behind the invaders wailing "Woowoowoowoowoo..." and waving their arms above their heads. If the defender is able to hit them they win the game outright.

Enjoy - and happy new year!

The Ten Principles of War

This is one of a series of articles on lessons from Commando training. Here is the full list.

In the British Armed Forces, all leaders are trained in the 10 Principles of War. These short principles - many of them only a single word - are distilled from centuries of studying conflict and competition. While they are designed for warfare, they are a great set of guidelines for life in general and business in particular.

The first principle is usually singled out as pre-eminent, with the second also considered to be special:

1. Selection and Maintenance of the Aim
2. Maintenance of Morale
3. Offensive Action
4. Security
5. Surprise
6. Concentration of Force
7. Economy of Effort
8. Flexibility
9. Cooperation
10. Sustainability

These principles were codified by JFC Fuller, a Major General and Military Historian, after the First World War, but they incorporate the ideas of the greatest military thinkers in history including Sun Tsu, von Clausewitz and Napoleon. They are at the core of current British military thought - as the former Chief of Defence Staff writes in his foreword to British Defence Doctrine (which also gives a detailed analysis of each of the principles in Chapter 2),

"[doctrine] is meant to educate the mind of the future commander, or, more accurately, to guide him in his self-education, not to accompany him to the battlefield"

So this is not a set of rigid rules - the principles are an educational tool that the leader can reflect upon before battle. As you prepare to face 2012 you may find it useful to reflect on how these principles can help you win in the new year and beyond.

This is one of a series of articles on lessons from Commando training. Here is the full list.