May 12, 2011
The United States Navy SEALs, under the guidance and intelligence of the CIA, successfully tracked down and killed Osama bin Laden, the face and once commander of the world biggest terrorist organisation. I am a virtual lab rat, in one of India's corporate laboratories. I also work on business strategy for our company's expansion, where no senior member of our organisation wants to waste his time - East Europe and West Africa. I am not in the media, nor a secret CIA/ISI operative nor am I affiliated to Taliban that I had to draft a statement. Then why was I forced to work overtime on a seemingly ordinary day at office?
Corporate organisations around the world rely heavily on the military - for new research and development into new technology or in formulating strategies for business. We are all using the Internet to read what I have written and it was developed purely for corporate purposes. Every corporate library has books on military strategy from Genghis Khan to Napolean to the several hundred books written on Kargil War, mostly by army officers who were posted in Bangalore and Pune during the battle.
I was asked to talk to the strategy and innovation team about how the operation was carried out. The overtime was spent was trying to research, analyze and prepare the content for discussion. In the era of electronic media, in an attempt to be first, all kinds of sins are committed - like morphing images to be "Exclusive". The Pakistani spokespersons who ranged from retired generals to exiled former ministers gave different and contradicting versions. The spin-off was fantastic and I have reccomended that they be appointed as public relations consultant at our company.
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I finally came to the following narrative. In 2007, one of the aides of Khalid Sheik Muhammad gave an alias name of a person who is a trusted courier/messenger to Osama bin Laden. It took the United States over 2 years to determine his real name and then upon following him, they reached Abbottabad, near Pakistan Miliatary Academy. They used all sorts of techniques to study who was living in the house and upon identifying someone like Osama bin Laden, they decided to go for the kill.
The United States had failed in 2002 in Tora Bora, where Osama bin Laden had escaped on a donkey's back, though the US Air Foce pounded the area with hydrogen bombs, creating craters. Where the might and bombs failed, a quiet resolve to carry out a job succeeded. As I worked and understood what had happened, I realised that the mission was to do with human qualities than with military action. Students, professionals and corporate organisations have a lot to learn from the people who made it possible.
Who killed bin Laden? Did the officer who shot him in his head kill bin Laden? No, it was the effort of so many others. For the purpose of the human resource department, I categorised them.
The Support Staff
Almost all of these people were unaware that they were involved in any operation, but the support rendered by them made it all possible. They are many in number and play a vital role in any success, though they are not directly involved. In the Osama Story, they included the people who made Afganistan so unliveable for Osama. The people who worked tirelessly to end his network and cut off his support base. This forced him to be away from thousands of bodyguards and made killing him an easy affair.
In our company, the support are the people who work in other projects to build up a reputation and brand such that people want to do business with us. For a student, it would be people who support and make their day easy - like a servant at home or a bus driver who ensures that you get to school/college in time.
The Top Management
The management is the most vital part of the organisation, though they do little actual work. The vision and the sense of direction, sets the organisational agenda and directs all energies towards targets. The President and his Cabient were the top management in the Osama Story. They showed courage and determination towards the mission. They didn't wane in their committment though time has brought in more critical issues. A lot of things could have gone wrong, but they believed in their organisations to deliver.
The challenge for the top management in any organisation should be to identify things they that would help utilize the potential of individuals and teams who work in it. They should select the right people for the right job, investing the correct amount of faith. They should give freedom, while also keeping the checks and balances.
The Tactical Commanders
The tatcial commanders were the CIA. They got the relevent intelligence, planned out the operation in complete detail, took advantage of supporting factors while working to meet the challenges. Any decision is as good as its follow up work. The tactic commanders were the vital link, who ensured that the decision of the top management was implemented well and the implementers were armed and prepared. The CIA showed patience, determination and unwavering committment inspite of several challenges.
We are tactic commanders when we plan for something. It could be when we plan to study for an exam as a student or plan a project in an organisation. We must take into account everything and use every factor to our advantage. We should be ready with backup plans in case of failure.
The SEALs
There were a group of 20 SEALs who carried out the operation. They were picked from the US Army, specially trained and moulded as individuals. They are not the aggressive kinds who hit the gym and showoff their knowledge, instead they are the quiet chess-playing kinds. They are intelligent, masters of all relevent trades, no matter how divergent - military combat, technical and medical. They are physically fit and mentally active, with a clear mind and singular focus. They are secretive and show a quiet determination. They are not celebrated nor are they paid highly, but they carry a sense of achievement with them.
To become a SEAL in our life, we should try to embibe their qualities in us. We should work to a level beyond perfect, remain honest with ourself and consistently try to improve. We should show a quiet determination to succeed.
Do you want to Kill bin Laden?
Who is Osama bin Laden? People who knew him at a personal level have commented that he was a humble, simple person, who never picked up a fight, no matter how much you instigated him. He was a nice man to know. Why would you like to kill such a person? But due to his strong beliefs and action, he created something monsterous, a killing machine, which has killed thousands. In its revenge, millions more have been killed. As Gandhiji had said, "Eye for an eye, makes the entire world blind". Today all of us are blinded with anger, hatred, fear and greed. Osama bin Laden is more than a human being, he is a thought, which unfortunately is within all of us, in different ways.
Let us all try to kill bin Laden in us and in doing so, let us become people who actually killed bin Laden.
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