On the Psychology of Military Incompetence by Norman F Dixon

Author:Norman F Dixon
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781446475737
Publisher: Pimlico

21

Military Achievement

‘How my achievements mock me!’

SHAKESPEARE, Troilus and Cressida, IV. ii

BESIDES PROVIDING LEGITIMATE outlets for aggression, the gratification of obsessive tendencies and reassurances about virility, armies and navies also cater for another basic human motive: the need to achieve. They do this in several ways. First, they embody related hierarchies of rank, money and class – with rank depending more (in the old days) upon money and class than upon merit. From the poorest private in the Pioneer Corps to a rich and aristocratic field-marshal, the rungs of the ladder climb ever more steeply upwards – an inviting prospect for the would-be achiever. Second, they accentuate the challenge of the promotional ladder by making certain upward movements very difficult indeed (but never quite impossible, as is shown by the case of William Robertson, who rose from under-footman in an aristocratic house to the rank of field-marshal and a knighthood). Third, the ethos of the armed forces is such as to make advancement laudable and highly rewarding. Generals have every advantage, bar that of age, over those lower down the ladder: they are richer, safer and more comfortable. Their chances of collecting honours, orders and knighthoods are also immeasurably greater than those of more junior ranks.

Finally, even the most modest thirst for achievement is encouraged by training and convention. The tabu on juniors speaking to seniors in officer-training establishments, saluting and being saluted, orders of march, rules as to who says ‘sir’ to whom, all serve to emphasize the horizontal stratifications of military organizations, besides adding lustre to each new level gained.

At first sight these arguments would seem to suggest that the possibility of promotion in a military organization would attract those with a potential for achievement: go-getters, entrepreneurs, innovators and men with energy and drive – in short, people who should make first-class military commanders. Sometimes it does, as in the case of Wellington, Montgomery, Rommel and Zhukov, men with inordinately strong needs for achievement. Unfortunately, however, there are aspects of a military career which are unlikely to attract people with high achievement-motivation. The fact that, traditionally, promotion depends upon seniority, class, wealth, conformity and obedience may well leave them rather cold. Neither the means nor the ends are sufficiently attractive.

Moreover, the military have never smiled upon entrepreneurs and innovators. The cut and thrust of private enterprise, cleverness and even working too hard have not been deemed ‘good form’. There is, however, another class of person for whom the military might well be an attractive proposition. These are people whose achievement-motivation is pathological in origin. The crucial difference between the two sorts of achievement – the healthy and the pathological – may be summarized by saying that whereas the first is buoyed up by hopes of success, the second is driven by fear of failure. Both types of achievement-motivation have their origins in early childhood. The former is associated with the possession of a strong ego and independent attitudes of mind, the latter with a weak ego and feelings of dependency.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.