How Do You Get Somebody to Do Something They Are Reluctant to Do?
Posted in Management on August 8th, 2007 No Comments »
According to the article, Hope on the Battlefield, less than 1 in 5 US soldiers actually could bring themselves to shoot at the enemy during World War II. It seems that killing is something that most people are quite reluctant to do, and while people would risk their own lives trying to help comrades, when it came to shooting at the enemy they deliberately aim a little high to make sure they miss.
The article goes on the talk about training techniques that the US instituted to raise that number to 9 in 10 soldiers instinctively shooting at their enemies. That part of the article was fascinating to me. I’ve been on the periphery of watching an organization try to change the behaviors of a large number of its employees, and it can sometimes seem like a task that is hopelessly out of reach.
The US military though, which must be one of the most complex bureaucracies ever conceived was able to implement a new training program that had stunning results. I’d really like to find out more about how they did that and whether any of that could be applied to other training needs.