A Conversation with the Creator... of NPRP

Captain John Jackson, SC, USN (ret) has been the program manager for the Navy Professional Reading Program since the program was first envisioned by the CNO. Jackson is a full professor at the Naval War College, in Newport, Rhode Island. Prior to his retirement from the Navy in 1996, he was a supply and logistics specialist with more than 27 years of experience both afloat and ashore. He holds advanced degrees from Providence College and Salve Regina University; is a graduate of the Management Development Program at Harvard University; and he completed the College of Naval Command and Staff in 1983. His doctoral research addresses the influence of technology on the human condition. We interviewed him exclusively for Navy Reads blog but encourage others to publish this interview about the origins of the Navy Reading Program.

How did the NPRP get started? Who had the idea for it; what was the spark that got it started?

Shortly after being named as CNO, ADM Mike Mullen requested the Naval War College to develop a Professional Reading Program that was more than just a list of suggested titles of books to read. Over the fall of 2005 and the spring of 2006, we developed the “matrix” structure of what became the Navy Professional Reading Program (NPRP). The Program consists of 6 areas of skills/competencies needed by all Sailors:

- Critical Thinking

- Joint and Combined Warfare

- Regional and Cultural Awareness

- Leadership

- Naval and Military Heritage

- Management and Strategic Planning

Within each of these areas, books are recommended for various grade levels, although every Sailor is encouraged to read any book in the NPRP Library, as well as other books of merit. The overall library is divided into various collections, as an aid to those readers who are looking to focus their reading on books of particular relevance at their particular career point. The collections are:

• Junior Enlisted Collection

• Leading Petty Officer Collection

• Division Leaders Collection

• Department/Command Leaders Collection

• Senior Leaders Collection

We formed a Navy Professional Reading Program Advisory Group, and nominated 60 primary titles to the Chief of Naval Operations for his approval. Once approved by ADM Mullen, we obtained funds, purchased over 65,000 books, and distributed them to 900 locations around the fleet. The official kick-off was in October 2006, when the Navy gave itself a birthday present: The NPRP.

The first complete NPRP Library was hand delivered to the oldest ship in the Navy, USS Constitution, in celebration of the Navy’s 231st Birthday.

The “spark” that got it started came directly from the Chief of Naval Operations, and it continues to have the personal interest and support of ADM Roughead and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Rick West.

How many people collaborated on recommending books in 2006?

The NPRP Advisory Group included representatives from the Naval Academy, the Naval Postgraduate School, the Naval War College, the Naval Historical Center, and the Senior Enlisted Academy. We also got input from the U.S. Naval Institute, the Commander, Naval Installations Command (which operates base libraries) and other sources. Altogether, over a dozen individuals considering several hundred books before the final 60 titles were approved by CNO. Many of the books that did not make the cut for the primary library are now listed as “Supplementary Suggestions” on the NPRP website.

What were some of the criteria for selecting titles?

• The books must be currently in print, and thus available for purchase and distribution.

• All titles must address one or more of the skills/competencies in the program matrix.

• The books should cover topics and issues of enduring value.

Do you have any anecdotes or stories about how the NPRP helped individuals? Have senior Navy leaders told you the program is helpful?

In 2007, a survey was conducted by the Navy Personnel Research, Studies, and Technology organization. Seventy-five percent of the senior leaders surveyed said that “The NPRP will make the Navy of tomorrow better than the Navy of today.” Aboard USS Vella Gulf (CG-72), the CO established a “Heritage and History Leadership Essay” contest where Sailors could win cash awards for writing about books from the NPRP. The skipper of USS Stockdale (DDG-106) asked for a NPRP library during their pre-commissioning work-up, since he felt these books would help shape his crew into the cohesive fighting unit they are destined to become.

You've quoted CNO Adm. Gary Roughead as saying the NPRP should be used as a "starting point." Can you give us short list of recommended additional titles, beyond what's on the original 2006 list?

In February 2009, CNO released the first revision to the NPRP, which we call NPRP 2.0. This revision added five great new titles to the NPRP library:

Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrel

Aircraft Carriers at War by James L. Holloway, III

The Elephant and the Dragon Robyn Meredith

Forgotten Continent by Michael Reid

Six Frigates by Ian Toll

We also recommend Wired for War by P.W. Singer (about the robotics revolution) and Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen (about promoting peace through education).

Who is recommending additional titles as the program evolves? Would you accept recommendations from Sailors and Navy civilians? (If so, how could they make those recommendations?)

The Program Office at the Naval War College receives emails and letters nearly every day with book suggestions. Our Advisory Group also exchanges messages about new books, and we get suggestions from faculty members at NWC, NPS and USNA. Suggestions can be forwarded to us at: navyreading@nwc.navy.mil.

What's on the horizon for the NPRP?

We are experimenting with e-book readers such as the Kindle to see if this technology is a good way to get our books in the hands of our readers. We have purchased “Playaway”-brand audio-books for patients in Navy hospitals who cannot read, or hold a book, but still want to participate in the NPRP. We are hoping to sponsor author book signings with our partners at the Navy Exchanges, and we continue to make our website www.navyreading.navy.mil as interesting and functional as possible.

You've said elsewhere that you encourage people to renew their fighting spirit through the power of professional reading. Would you expound on why reading is important for our Navy and our nation?

In early 2009, CNO noted in a Navy-wide message:

“Reading, discussing, and understanding the ideas and concepts found in the NPRP will not only improve our critical thinking, it will also help us become better Sailors, better leaders, and better citizens. As President John Adams once warned, "A fighting spirit without knowledge would be little better than a brutal rage." I encourage all personnel to renew their fighting spirit through the power of professional reading.”

Reading is important because it allows people to benefit from the lessons learned by others, going back literally thousands of years. An old sage once said “You can never live long enough to make all the mistakes yourself”! Good books entertain, illustrate, and educate. They open a door to the past, they explain what is happening today, and they project what may happen in the future. You only need to read about the actions of the men and women in Navy-blue who went before you to understand that we are all part of an organization much bigger than ourselves, and with a tremendous legacy on which we can build. Thomas Jefferson once wrote: “I cannot live without books”! Every avid reader feels the same way.

Do you think books could become "dinosaurs" in the age of social media, electronic games and cable/Internet TV?

Modern technology is great, and any tools which improve communications between individuals are positive things. Even so, the book (in hard-copy, electronic format, or in audio) still has a place in everyone’s life. A book provides a level of detail on a subject that no movie can match; it energizes the reader’s imagination, so the concepts are tailored to the experiences and expectations of each individual; and a printed book is compact, permanent, easy to carry, and needs no batteries!

What are some brand new titles you'd recommend as good Navy reads?

Six Frigates by Ian Toll (fairly new) - about founding of the U.S. Navy; Leave No Man Behind by George Galdorisi and Thomas Phillips about Combat Search and Rescue; Shattered Sword by Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully about the Battle of Midway; and Lincoln and His Admirals by Craig Symonds about President Lincoln’s relationship with his naval commanders during the Civil War.

Any final thoughts you’d like to share about the Navy Professional Reading Program?

Every indication is that the NPRP has been warmly embraced by our Sailors who are interested in their professional development. In addition to the books which are widely available in lending libraries aboard all ships, in squadron ready-rooms, and at base libraries and liberty centers around the fleet, these books are available for sale at reduced prices in all Navy Exchanges and by using the NEX on-line and telephone ordering systems. Since the program began, over 60,000 books have been purchased by Sailors who wanted to create their own professional libraries.

You can read them in hard-copy…. You can read them as e-Books…. You can listen to them as audio-books. The Navy Professional Reading Program is accessible to everyone who wants to participate and as the program’s motto says, it will help “Accelerate your Mind.”

Special thanks to Professor John E. Jackson. Read more from Professor Jackson at the Naval War College. We welcome readers' comments about NPRP and the books in the various collections; also, your suggestions for this blog are always appreciated. -- Bill Doughty

Honor, Courage, Commitment In 1776

1776 by David McCullough

Review by Bill Doughty

One of the many benefits of the Navy’s Professional Reading list is finding books that bring history to life.

Such is the case with David McCullough’s 1776, a compelling, lively story of the fragile beginnings of our nation and how the United States nearly didn’t make it.

McCullough introduces us to George Washington, King George III, and Benedict Arnold, as well as lesser-known but equally colorful characters like Major General Charles Lee, Washington’s deputy.

About Lee: “He was a spare, odd-looking man with a long, hooked nose and dark, bony face. Rough in manner, rough of speech, he had nothing of Washington’s dignity. Even in uniform he looked perpetually unkempt . . . He had been married to an Indian woman, the daughter of a Seneca chief,” writes McCullough. “Lee was also self-assured, highly opinionated, moody, and ill-tempered (his Indian name was Boiling Water), and he was thought by many to have the best military mind of any of the generals, a view he openly shared.”

Using hundreds of quotes from archived letters, diaries, and newspaper accounts of the time, McCullough shows how the honor of individuals – Americans, “Loyalists,” and the British – was tested in battle. He describes the commitment of leaders and volunteers in fruit orchard battles, city sieges, and long marches through forests in the dead of night. He reveals the courage of the mostly volunteer militia against overwhelming odds, facing the British army and Hessian forces.

Honor, courage and commitment come together in the story of Henry Knox of Boston. Knox was a self-educated bookseller from Boston who enjoyed reading about the “military art” and who became a colonel in Washington’s army.

“Colonel Henry Knox was hard not to notice,” writes McCullough. “Six feet tall, he bulked large, weighing perhaps 250 pounds. He had a booming voice. He was gregarious, jovial, quick of mind, highly energetic – ‘very fat, but very active’ – and all of twenty-five.”

McCullough writes: “The army that had crossed in the night from Brooklyn was, in the light of day on August 30, a sorry sight to behold – filthy, bedraggled, numb with fatigue, still soaked to the skin, many of them sick and emaciated. The army that had gone off to Brooklyn cheering was no more.”

Knox had the idea of bringing 58 mortars and cannon from Fort Ticonderoga in New York to the outskirts of Boston.

Traveling over snow-blanketed hills and across ice-covered rivers, cutting down trees and using sleds, Knox and his team succeeded in bringing the heavy guns (believed to be 120,000 pounds in total) to Washington. Knox’s heroic act helped deal a powerful and demoralizing early blow to the British.

1776 shows the few victories, but it includes painful details of the losses and the almost hopelessness of the situation at times.

The capture of more than a thousand American prisoners in Brooklyn was part of a terrible campaign in New York, including a retreat into New Jersey.

Thomas Paine famously wrote in The American Crisis:

“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value.”

Paine's writings unquestionably inspired the leaders, warriors and patriots of the time. Washington is said to have ordered Paine's words read throughout the Continental Army.

The tide for Washington turned, thanks to freak weather conditions, some political crises on both sides of the Atlantic, and a timely capture of British vessels carrying resources all helped turn the tide for the colonies.

Logistics played a key role in determining the outcome of the war, according to military leaders and historians worldwide, and the story of 1776 and logistics still resonates with allies of the United States today.

In 2007, Vice Adm. Yoshinari Kawano, Commander of the Maritime Materiel Command of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force, spoke at the Supply Corps Birthday Ball at Yokosuka, Japan. He talked about the heroism of 1776 from a logistics perspective.

Kawano said he thinks Americans won the Revolutionary War for these reasons: Britain’s long supply lines, blockades against British supply vessels by America’s allies (France, Spain, and the Netherlands), and George Washington’s leadership in capturing British ships laden with provisions and ammunition.

“With this triumph in the campaign, Washington made the Congress acknowledge the importance of building the Navy, and eventually led to the birth of the Supply Corps,” Kawano said.

“What may be said in the summary of these historical events is that the United States won against the Kingdom of Great Britain because it won the war of supply.”

In the May 2009 issue of Seapower, Admiral Gary Roughead, U.S. Navy’s Chief of Naval Operations, discussed the importance of logistics now and in the years ahead.

“Our ability to move significant amounts of logistics at sea and throughput them at sea is going to be important in the future,” Roughead said.

Learning the lessons of history and putting history in context is one of the benefits of the CNO’s professional reading program.

Our beginnings were so remarkably tenuous...

In 1776, McCullough writes: “The war was a longer, far more arduous and more painful struggle than later generations would understand or fully appreciate.”

“The year 1776 . . . (was) a year of all-too-few victories, of sustained suffering, disease, hunger, desertion, cowardice, disillusionment, defeat, terrible discouragement, and fear, as they would never forget, but also of phenomenal courage and bedrock devotion to country, and that, too, they would never forget.”

The beginnings of U.S. military core values and ethos...

McCullough concludes, “Especially for those who had been with Washington and who knew what a close call it was at the beginning – how often circumstance, storms, contrary winds, the oddities or strengths of individual character had made the difference – the outcome seemed little short of a miracle.”

Reading 1776 made me want to pick up Power, Faith, and Fantasy – America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present by Michael B. Oren (2007).

Oren’s book shows that while the 13 colonies fought for their independence, American merchant vessels became a target of the mighty British fleet, North African pirates, and other countries’ navies. This set the stage for American naval hero John Paul Jones, Thomas Jefferson’s engagement of what would become the “Middle East,” and the legacy of the Barbary Wars: “. . . to the Shores of Tripoli.”

But that’s another read.

A version of this review was originally published in the Navy’s Supply Corps Newsletter. In researching links for this posting, I stumbled across an amazingly detailed and provocative blog about the history of this period, a Boston perspective: Boston 1775; worth checking out! Coming soon on Navy Reads, an interview with the chief creator of the Navy Professional Reading Program...

Why Women Should Rule the World

Don’t women already rule the world? My first guest blogger on Navy Reads… Lt.j.g. Theresa Donnelly puts Dee Dee Myers’s Why Women Should Rule the World in perspective. For more information on Theresa’s take on women and diversity in the Navy – and a full report on the recent Sea Services Leadership Association symposium – you may wish to visit GI Jess’s blog. No question about Navy's commitment

to diversity.

Guest Perspective on SSLA Symposium

by Lt.j.g. Theresa Donnelly

The Sea Services Leadership Association symposium, held June 18-19, honored women leaders, presented networking opportunities and promoted mentoring in the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

For a list of keynote speakers, please check out my more detailed blog post on another friend’s blog (GI Jess). For Bill’s Navy Reads, I wanted to concentrate on how Dee Dee Myers opened my mind to a “woman’s place” in this world.

Dee Dee Myers, who comes from a Navy family, spoke about being the first female White House Press Secretary in the first two years of President Clinton’s administration in 1992 and 1993.

All attendees got free copies of her book, “Why Women Should Rule the World” (for which she kindly stayed afterwards and signed) and in her book, as well as in her speech, she brought up many interesting observations about women in the workplace. For example, women tend to be more collaborative and consensus building than men. Also, companies who employ more women tend to offer more perspectives, fresh ideas and varied experiences. In her book, Myers cites several examples where women have enabled peace processes in war-torn countries and have been crucial to the rebuilding of nations, such as Rwanda after the 1994 genocide. She sites numerous examples of the positive impact women have made in business, politics and education.

But, even with those great examples, I still found some of the statistics about women in business disheartening, like that only 2.6 percent of heads of Fortune 500 companies are women, Or, that only 16 percent of seats in the House and Senate are filled by women.

Even in the Navy, with all the initiatives to facilitate more women in the Navy’s highest positions, the number of female CMCs was quite disappointing. According to Master Chief Jackie DiRosa, director, CMC Management Office “We have 57 female CMCs, out of approximately 760 CMCs total (AC/FTS numbers). We have nearly 160 female Master Chiefs of which 57 are CMCs. However, keep in mind that MCPOs are one percent of the total force...nearly 3000 strong. Yet out of nearly 3000 MCPOs, only 160 are female.”

These numbers alone demonstrate that women still have a long way to go in being equally represented in the workforce. Especially, when one considers that (as mentioned in Myers book), “women (in the U.S.) now earn 60 percent of all bachelor’s and master’s degrees.”

So my question is, if the U.S. has so many educated women, why are they not in the top political, medical, educational, military and other professional positions? The book (which I devoured on my plane ride back to Hawaii) cites many reasons including not enough women who ask for promotions and how many women feel forced to leave their jobs because of their difficulties balancing having a family with their work life.

Much progress has been made in terms of women, but many small subtleties still exist. I feel these can be setbacks to women’s advancement, such as the informal networks men have like a golf outing where talks of promotions can (and do) happen. Or, another example might be when a man re-words an idea that the lone women just said in a meeting. These are the type of barriers we discussed and ways women can overcome these obstacles.

Myers also spoke of her time as press secretary as a great experience, but said she still lacked the authority to really have the kind of power she needed to perform certain functions, and that many times she was left out of some very important decisions she needed to convey to the press. She had many reservations about taking the job because President Clinton assigned George Stephanopoulos as director of communications, making Myers a back-up briefer. This was the first time in history the job was split up in this fashion, and it led to a lot of overlap between job duties.

Stephanopoulous, now chief Washington correspondent and anchor of ABC News’s This Week, writes, “Smart, funny, and tough — Dee Dee Myers may not have ruled the world, but she held her own at the highest levels of the White House. Here she shows how she did it, what she learned, and what all women should know about how to succeed and lead in a world where the deck is all too often stacked against them.”

Mary Matalin, former counselor to President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, writes, “Women around the world are rewriting history at a ferocious pace with or without permission. Though provocatively titled, Why Women Should Rule the World is no polemic, but a deeply researched, evocative rendering of this transformation in progress. Dee Dee’s own personal and professional history is a frontline testimonial to women creating their own reality and in so doing changing the world’s.”

Myers’s book follows in the footsteps of Torie Clarke’s Lipstick on a Pig, a great read, also from behind the scenes in the White House.

In Lipstick, Clarke writes about her experience as press secretary to Senator John McCain, serving on the staffs of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and working in the Pentagon as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs during President George W. Bush’s first term in office, for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Clarke offers a clear-eyed treatise on the need for honesty and transparency in government. -- Bill Doughty

Father’s Day Perspective

By Bill Doughty

My grandfather fought in “The Great War,” World War I – the one that was supposed to end all wars... He fought for Germany, and had a jagged scar from a French bayonet that went through his arm, shrapnel in his neck and scars on various other parts of his body.

He remembered the horrors of the trenches – the gas, the terror, the gangrene and the rats. A quiet, creative and spiritual man who before and after the war made a living as a chef in Europe and in the States, my grandfather was also physically very strong and powerful.

He and my grandmother escaped Germany after the war, just as the German economy imploded but, thankfully, before the Third Reich’s talons clawed out of the ashes.

So that they could start a family in the United States, free and safe, my grandparents had to say goodbye to their loved ones in Germany. In most cases it was a forever goodbye.

I was about 10 when my grandfather and I looked at his old black-and-white coffee-table-sized book about WWI. Now, you can find similar types of books, but with better photography, printed on better paper. They’re easy to find in the bargain section at Borders or Barnes and Noble, but in 1964 there were no such mega book franchises, and books were more valued and valuable, or so it seems.

Like today, in 1964 war raged in remote areas of the world, including in a place whose name we were all learning: Vietnam. It was the year the Beatles and the Ford Mustang made their debut in the U.S., plans were announced to build the New York World Trade Center, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace prize.

But, this post isn’t about war and peace, per se, or about that big old picture book, or even about my beloved grandfather.

It’s about perspective.

In a way, it’s about our understanding of history, too.

I was born in 1954, the year the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregation of schools was unconstitutional. It was also the year Tolkien published two of his Rings books, William Golding published Lord of the Flies, and Hemingway won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

If I subtract my current age, 55, from the year I was born, we go back to 1899, the 19th Century! It was the year the Spanish-American War ended (our Senate ratified the Paris Peace Treaty by only one vote on Feb. 6, 1899), the Philippine-American War, also known as the Philippine Insurrection, started and Ernest Hemingway was born. Old Man and the... See?

Back another 55 years – 1844, the year the first telegram was sent, James Polk defeated Henry Clay and the Mexican-American War, though not officially proclaimed, was in full effect. One year later, 1845, the U.S. Naval Academy would be established, the U.S. would annex Texas and Frederick Douglass would ignite the anti-slavery abolitionist movement with his writings, fueled a few years later with the publication of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a book Abraham Lincoln said helped start the Civil War.

Go back one more chunk of 55 years, and it’s 1789, the year of our first presidential election, in which George Washington was elected to the first of his two terms and John Adams became the first vice president – just 13 years after Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The point is not that I’m old (that’s besides the point)... Getting older gives you perspective.

So, now I imagine the perspective my grandfather had, his understanding of the world and history and the love he had for his adopted country. Like most American families, we enjoy our gifts of freedom because of generations who sacrificed so much.

It’s intriguing to consider some of the great thinkers in literature and science, using my own lifespan so far of (only) 55 years as a yardstick. Those authors’ voices don’t seem so far away. They seem more relevant and alive than ever.

Think how many advances there have been since 1789, 1844, 1899, 1954 – not just in technology but also in our understanding of the mysteries of the universe and the mind. These mysteries can sometimes be revealed in books, now with an even greater diversity of voices from which to learn.

As a nation we are still riding the wave of the Enlightenment and its direct effect: the beginning of the United States of America.

What will we say about 2009? Who can even imagine our world in 2064, 55 years from now?

Will we learn the lessons of the past? Or, as we read from Santayana and Huxley, are we condemned to repeat our history?

I wonder what my late grandfather would say. He and my grandmother certainly applied the lessons of history and, in doing so, provided a better world for their descendants.

Happy Father’s Day, Pop-pop.

Coming soon, an updated review of David McCullough’s 1776.

Chasing Salvation: The Kite Runner

Review by Bill Doughty

Kite flying in Afghanistan is expected to draw blood. That’s one revelation in Khaled Hosseini’s masterpiece The Kite Runner.

Blood links together the main characters, so there's little surprise when, early on, the “hero” ends up with blood on his hands, both literally and metaphorically.

Will he find redemption?

All of the main characters have deep flaws; they must come to terms with their circumstances in a violent society: internal implosion, Russian occupation, Taliban corruption, war.

It’s clear that this book is on the Navy’s reading list because of its power to introduce us to Afghanistan’s culture and history, where honor and tradition in a patriarchal caste society is a double-edged sword -- grounding people but grinding them, as well.

Afghanistan is a place where respect, loyalty and honor are absolutes... depending on your point of view.

This is the story of a father/son relationship, where a young man learns what it means to have moral courage and take a stand.

The book moves from the greener, freer past of Afghanistan to the dusty oppression of today.

Here’s how a character describes the Taliban's version of Sharia (Muslim religious law) midway through the novel:

“They don’t let you be human.” He pointed to a scar above his right eye cutting a crooked path through his bushy eyebrow. “I was at a soccer game in Ghazi Stadium in 1998. Kabul against Mazar-i-Sharif, I think, and by the way the players weren’t allowed to wear shorts. Indecent exposure, I guess.” He gave a tired laugh. “Anyway, Kabul scored a goal and the man next to me cheered loudly. Suddenly this young bearded fellow who was patrolling the aisles, eighteen years old at most by the look of him, he walked up to me and struck me on the forehead with the butt of his Kalashnikov. ‘Do that again and I’ll cut out your tongue, you old donkey!’ he said.” Rahim Khan rubbed the scar with a gnarled finger “I was old enough to be his grandfather and I was sitting there, blood gushing down my face, apologizing to that son of a dog.”

The violence depicted can be excruciating, especially at the start and end of the hero’s journey of redemption. But the blood-letting is balanced by the sensual prose describing a peaceful pre-war Afghanistan:

We sat against the low cemetery wall under the shade thrown by the pomegranate tree. In another month or two, crops of scorched yellow weeds would blanket the hillside, but that year the spring showers had lasted longer than usual, nudging their way into early summer, and the grass was still green, peppered with tangles of wildflowers. Below us, Wazir Akbar Khan’s white-walled, flat-topped houses gleamed in the sunshine, the laundry hanging on clotheslines in their yards stirred by the breeze to dance like butterflies.

The Kite Runner explores the relationships between Afghanistan and Pakistan. It shows how India’s influence abounds in references to food “tandoor,” tea “chai,” and music and entertainment. We come to understand more how the cultures evolved long before some of these countries were created.

Like great literature, this novel is filled with allegory and irony, pathos and hope.

Anyone touched directly or indirectly by events in Afghanistan (which means anyone) will benefit by reading this novel and understanding some of the cultural differences -- and similarities -- presented.

I’ve already started Khaled Hosseini’s follow-up novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns . . . no surprise that it too starts with flawed characters in a melancholy world.

Will they find redemption?

(Which books do Sailors and Marines recommend for long deployments? What titles should be on Navy Exchange book shelves for military spouses? Which children's books make the best read-alouds for deployed moms and dads to record? We hope to explore each of these questions -- and more -- in the months ahead. And, there are plenty more book reviews to come. Your comments are always welcome!)

For more information about the Navy Reading Program: http://www.navyreading.navy.mil/

Gladwell, Navy and Diversity in San Diego

By Bill Doughty

Are good athletes, high achievers and strong leaders born that way or are they developed - or both?

The question was posed by Rear Adm. Patrick McGrath, the Commander of Naval Air Forces Reserve at this past week’s Fleet Diversity Council in San Diego.

The Council, led by Navy Capt. Ken Barrett, was titled “The Power of What If?: An Open-Minded Approach to Diversity.”

Rear Adm. McGrath shared the insights of Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink, Tipping Point and Outliers.

In Outliers, Gladwell shows how an accident of birth may give an arbitrary advantage in size and experience to children who play organized hockey, an advantage that continues into their pro careers.

Those born in January, February and March, right after the age-class eligibility cutoff of Jan. 1, are naturally bigger and stronger than the younger kids, so they get more playing time and coaches’ attention.

The same circumstances occur in baseball and soccer, creating bias against kids with the “wrong” birthday, according to statistics cited in Outliers. Last December ESPN verified the stats for National Hockey Players, showing that 158 players had birthdays in Jan., Feb. and Mar., while only 97 players had birthdays in Oct., Nov. and Dec.

Gladwell is one of the authors featured in the Navy’s Reading Program. His work keeps coming up in the context of diversity and the Navy’s achievements at recruiting, retaining and rewarding its total force.

Are we moving toward a "tipping point" in understanding, accepting and implementing diversity now that the Navy has been selected as one of America’s Top 50 employers?

At the Diversity Council Rear Adm. McGrath and DiversityInc CEO Luke Visconti spoke about the business of diversity: get the best people and keep the best people... and listen to alternative voices.

As the Chief Executive Officer for DiversityInc, Mr. Visconti is a renowned lecturer who has appeared on FOX, MSNBC, CNBC and NPR. His magazine DiversityInc has a circulation of more than 200,000.

Key business points from Mr. Visconti:

-- Diversity management increases engagement; engagement drives innovation and productivity in quantifiable, measurable ways.

-- Representation, recruitment and retention are linked.

-- Communication and mentoring are critical.

Next, communication expert Dr. Steve Robbins gave a powerful talk about critical thinking as an antidote to unintentional intolerance.

A flexible, adaptable and engaged mind - one that reads! - is better able to overcome adversity and become a better leader and achiever.

Be more mindful and less mindless...

...It’s good business.

Recently, the CNO recognized the Navy’s Strategic Diversity Working Group which received the 2009 Diversity Council Honors Award. Adm. Gary Roughead said, “Your demonstrated results and commitment toward measurement, accountability, communication and education have set the standard for others to follow.”

The group met in San Diego Apr. 29 after the Fleet Diversity Council, where they planned community outreach events and conducted other Navy Diversity business.

It was a busy week for Navy diversity professionals, many of whom attended the 29th annual professional development and training symposium of the Association of Naval Services Officers (ANSO) nearby.

Lt. Lori Campbell, of Navy Recruiting District San Diego, speaks with members of the La Habra High School Navy Junior ROTC program at ANSO's Youth Outreach Program Apr. 28, 2009. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class David Smart)

Once again, books were part of the discussion. Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen were treated to a keynote speech by Joachim de Posada, author of Don’t Eat the Marshmallow...Yet! -The Secret to Sweet Success in Work and Life.

Attendees also received a copy of Juan Gonzalez’s Harvest of Empire - A History of Latinos in America, which the New York Times called, “A serious, significant contribution to understanding who the Hispanics of the United States are and where they come from.”

Some key points from Dr. de Posada’s book and motivational talk:

-- “Each morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up and knows it must run faster than the fastest lion, and each morning a lion wakes up knowing it must run faster than the slowest gazelle.” But, applied to competition and cooperation between countries, “Technology has made this world a level playing field.”

Community Outreach: Cmdr. Yvette Davids, of the Association of Naval Services Officers, presents a certificate of commendation to Cadet Seaman Emmarow Taledo, a freshman in the Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps , at Junipero Serra High School for maintaining a 4.0 grade point average. (Photo by MC2 Daniel Taylor)

-- “If people feel passion for what they do, they will do well.”

-- Successful people are willing to delay gratification (“think long term”), keep promises, assume responsibility/accountability and “do what unsuccessful people are unwilling to do.”

-- Teamwork: “None of us is worth more than the sum of all of us.”

Of course, there was a lot more happening at ANSO all week long, with participation by numerous flag officers, senior and junior officers and enlisted leaders and people from all three naval services. Vice Adm. D.C. Curtis, Commander, Naval Surface Forces gave a passionate talk about Maritime Strategy and leadership empowerment at a luncheon on Apr. 30.

A big part of ANSO's agenda was reaching out to the community, including a youth outreach program with a Coast Guard vertical delivery demonstration, a Marine Corps weapons booth and K-9 (working dog) demonstration, Navy SEALs demonstration and Navy SPAWAR static display.

Kids from different schools and organizations around San Diego County grab Navy gear at the youth outreach program during ANSO Apr. 28, 2009. (Photo by MC3(SW/AW) David Smart)

For more information about ANSO and to learn how to join, visit their website at www.ansomil.org.

Diversity Update...

We just had to share this great photo from the Naval Service Training Command, Navy City Outreach, Chicago; the photo was taken June 10 at the Rickover Naval Academy commencement :

Valedictorian and Cadet Commander Jaqueline Duarte is overcome with emotion during her remarks to the first graduating class of the Rickover Naval Academy in Chicago. Mrs. Eleanor Rickover walked from her seat on stage to provide Duarte with a much needed hug and words of encouragement. Duarte will be leaving for Plebe Summer at the U.S. Naval Academy in 19 days. (Photo by Lt. Jeffrey S. Gray.)
We’ve been mining from the diversity vein since the beginning of this blog and have seen how the Navy Reading Program relates... Next we’ll turn the page to The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. An awesome read.
What's on your book shelf?

Hōkūle‘a

This week I had the privilege of participating in a Native Hawaiian Cultural Communications Course at Mokapu -- Marine Corps Base Hawaii (Kaneohe), sponsored by DoD. Key points: Our similarities outweigh our differences; understanding each other helps build trust and partnership.

We all respect and protect our environment: Malama kekahi i kekahi; Malama Aina. We respect and protect the earth: Malama Honua.

I've had the link to the Hokule‘a blog on Navy Reads (under Maritime/Voyages) since shortly after starting these reviews and discussion.

The most recent posting on the Hokule‘a blog is a Q&A about their recent voyage to Palmyra. Fascinating insights and brilliant imagery.

From the Hokule‘a blog:

"For more than 30 years, voyagers aboard Hokule‘a – the iconic traditional Hawaiian open-ocean canoe – have combined the wisdom of their ancestors with modern insights to navigate a course for our future. Embracing the concept of Malama Hawai‘i (caring for and protecting Hawai‘i), these explorers have reconnected to their heritage while helping to foster a community committed to peace, caring and a healthier world.

"Now, Hokule‘a and her sister vessels will begin an eight year voyage to circumnavigate the globe to find answers, through exploration, on our journey toward a shared destination – a healthy and sustainable Earth for future generations. With Hokule‘a as a catalyst for global attention and local action, the worldwide voyage is a journey that will chart a new course for sustainability."

(Photo: Mike Taylor)

By the way, two books from the Navy Reading Program came up in discussions or as an actual part of Native Hawaiian Cultural Communications presentation: Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point. Both were brought up in the context of relationships/connections and developing and building trust. Maritime Strategy!

Voices from WWII Come Alive: Doolittle Speaks

History buffs, this comes to us courtesy of USNI.org:
Japan’s late-1941 attack on Pearl Harbor left America feeling vulnerable, and Japan invincible. On April 18, 1942, American pilots – flying from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet – cracked Japan’s confidence. Led by Lieutenant Colonel "Jimmy" Doolittle, their daring raid on Tokyo was the first WWII strike against the Japanese homeland. In 1983, U. S. Naval Institute historians recorded a conversation with Doolittle as part of an oral history project. Until weeks ago, the tapes of that interview sat hidden on a dusty shelf. Rediscovered and digitized, we’ve posted them so you can hear in his own voice, the man who made history with the "Doolittle Raid."

Some other great related links:
Navy.mil's the Course to Midway
Naval History and Heritage Command on The Battle of Midway
PBS on The Perilous Fight

Two recommended books from the Navy Reading Program about WWII in the Pacific:
Eagle Against the Sun
Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors

"Accelerate Your Mind"

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People 

By Stephen R. Covey 

Review by Bill Doughty

This is more than a book review. That’s because the ‘7 Habits’ is more than a book...

Covey calls his groundbreaking work a “companion in the continual process of change and growth.” He challenges readers to take his “companion” with them on life’s journey, integrating his seven habits at home and at work to build relationships, strengthen leadership and chart a course.

No wonder The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was selected for the CNO’s recommended reading list. Covey’s insights about character often dovetail with senior leaders’ strategic guidance; the Navy’s core values of honor, courage, and commitment; and Navy Ethos. In fact, he spends a lot of time talking about courage. “High courage and consideration (of others) are both essential to win/win,” Covey says. 

Think of the best leaders you’ve known, the most respected colleagues and co-workers. Chances are, they have a win/win approach to leadership (more about that later). . . 

Using diagrams and models Covey takes us through the interlocking pieces of his 7 habits. 

Habit 1, “Be Proactive,” is all about empowerment, the ability to control your environment – making good choices and determining the course you will navigate. 

Habit 2, “Begin with the End in Mind,” gets deeper into character and values, recognizing that people who have a sense of purpose are indeed highly effective. For Sailors, Marines and civilians serving in the Department of the Navy, the CNO’s Guidance for 2009 reinforces the Maritime Strategy as the Navy’s purpose – “sustaining combat readiness, building a fleet for the future and developing 21st Century leaders.” The Maritime Strategy, “A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower,” puts the ‘operative’ in ‘cooperative’ for “Security, Stability, Seapower.”

 

Habit 3, “Put First Things First,” discusses organization and implementation or, as CNOs and Fleet Commanders have put it, “focus on execution.” Covey says that principle-centered leadership comes from practicing the principles of personal management, and draws this distinction: “Management, remember, is clearly different from leadership. Leadership is primarily a high-powered, right brain activity. It’s more of an art; it’s kind of a philosophy.” He shows us that we have to manage our lives and our selves before we can lead others. 

Habit 4, “Think Win-Win,” begins the evolution to independence and eventually to the ultimate goal, interdependence. Here it’s all about cooperation, teamwork, and consideration for others – creating a paradigm of high trust and a vision that is positive and proactive. 

Habit 5, “Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood,” is Covey’s very powerful communication message about the importance of listening, summed up in the popular maxim: “People need to know how much you care before they care how much you know.” 

Habit 6, “Synergize,” talks about the creativity that comes from bringing all the habits together to open new possibilities for us, our parents and children, and our leaders and coworkers. Covey thinks this can change people and society itself. “Could synergy not create a new script for the next generation – one that is more geared to services and contribution, and is less protective, less adversarial, less selfish; one that is more open, more trusting, more giving, and is less defensive, protective and political; one that is more loving, more caring and is less possessive and judgmental?”

 

Habit 7, “Sharpen the Saw,” is the habit of balanced self-renewal, completely in line with the Navy’s emphasis on continually training, maintaining, educating, and learning. These are the basics of the seven habits in what Covey calls his “companion.” For many readers, this is not new information, but it can reinforce and strengthen already good habits. 

Personally, I re-read one or two chapters from time to time, once after a 2007 podcast of “Talk of the Nation – Science Friday” with Ira Flatow on National Public Radio.  The show’s topic was “Can Thoughts and Actions Change Our Brains” – a fascinating discussion of some pioneering work in neuroscience called neuroplasticity (changeability of the brain).

In essence, science is showing how our brain can change in response to our life experiences and even the very thoughts we think. 

Behavior can change the way our brain works – even structurally. Whether it’s called “mind over matter,” “the power of positive thinking,” “the power of prayer and meditation” or “cognitive behavior therapy (CBT),” it is thinking about thinking in a different way for a better outcome. CBT might as well be called “Covey’s Better Thinking.” 

Neuroscientists are proving that cognitive behavior therapy can help people suffering from depression, obsessive-compulsive behavior and post-traumatic stress disorder. (Check out the great discussion about PTSD and traumatic brain injury, mentioning neuroplasticity, in a Bloggers Roundtable discussion on PTSD from Jan. 2009.)

CBT can even help with brain motor cortex functions in stroke victims. Interestingly, the development of neurons occurs in patients who are self-motivated, not forced . . .  which brings us back to managing ourselves and leading others. 

Nearly everyone can benefit from knowing we can have a lot of control over our own destiny. New discoveries in neuroplasticity reinforce the importance of a positive worldview and the value of education and reading . . . which brings us back to the Covey “book.” 

Covey’s philosophy really is more than a book. It has become synonymous for open and trusting management systems and with how individuals can make good choices about behavior and lifestyle, based on a win-win model of leadership and a positive view of the world . . . which brings us to Covey's blog, a good 7th habit tool.

Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is in the “Management and Strategic Planning” section of the Navy Professional Reading Program Guide.