Tuesday, April 21, 2009

General Oversight

"Having entered Stalingrad, the Germans met such a ferocious resistance that they were forced onto the defensive. The besiegers became the besieged. Ignoring the appeals of his generals at the front, who urged a withdrawal, Hitler instructed his army to retreat not one millimeter. They were instructed 'to fight to the last soldier and the last bullet.'"

As a result, the powerful Sixth Army of Germany, which had been its most successful in World War II, lost 200,000 and another 91,000 were captured, of which 6,000 survived captivity.

Hitler blamed the large number of Romanian, Hungarian and Italian units fighting on the German side. He screamed of the cowardice of the army's commander Paulus when Paulus eventually surrendered.

Lesson: Leaders who scream and blame others are bad enough. Those who push on with blinders to the input of their team are downright disastrous.

Today was a small victory for inclusiveness at work. Thanks to solicited feedback, several people produced ideas that improved the final design. Those who produced ideas were thankful for being part of the team.

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