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3d Place 2001 MacArthur Writing Award Winner
Pervasive zero-defect mentality; it is a cancer that is eating us all
-General James L. Jones, Jr.1
IN THE AGE of the so-called zero-defect military, senior officers increasingly recognize that pursuing perfection in officer performance hurts the military services. In an address to the U.S. Army Command and General Staff Officer's Course in 2001, Commandant of the Marine Corps General James E. Jones, Jr., stated, "Today, standards are incredibly high. . . . I never would have made it past major if I had been held to the same standard as you."2 Vice Chief of Staff of the Army General John M. Keane recently sent a letter to senior commanders in the field concerning junior officer retention, which said in part, "We hear from . . . captains that they are frustrated by what they perceive as a 'zero-defect' mentality and a resulting culture of micromanagement. They came into the Army to lead soldiers and to willingly shoulder the immense responsibility that goes with command; however, they tell us that this responsibility has been taken away from them by leaders more concerned with making sure nothing goes wrong on their watch."3
While today's military leaders recognize the symptoms of the zero-defect cancer, they must look back in history to find the cure. Four prominent leaders from the past were actors in incidents that would have ended their careers today or at least prevented promotions, but each worked for superiors who understood them and allowed them to recover from their mistakes. Perhaps the real heroes are the four illustrious officers' bosses: Rear Admiral U.R. Harris, Brigadier General Charles Heywood, Major General William R. Smith, and General Ewing E. Booth, who mentored their officers and did not destroy their careers when they made mistakes.
Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, U.S. Navy. As a 22-year old ensign, Nimitz took command of the USS Decatur, the first destroyer commissioned in the U.S. Navy. For someone so young to be given a destroyer command was unusual. Nimitz's contemporaries, future admirals Raymond A. Spruance, Bill Halsey, and Ernest King, commanded destroyers when they were between the ages of 26 and 36.4 Harris recognized Nimitz's competence as a naval officer and entrusted him with...