Expert Insight: Churchill Leadership Series
By David Schneider
Date: April 21, 2010

Churchill Series : Behavior 6 - He Listened and Read from A Constant Feed of Information From All Source Points

Churchill Used A Balanced And Continuous Feed Of Information To Lead


A tree falls in the forest.  No one (or no animal) is there.  Is there a sound?  Some would answer that while there are waves in the air, unless there is something or someone to feel those waves and then those waves into sound – to sense the sound – that the sound does not exist. 

Another way to think about this idea is radio communications.  There is a transmitter and there is a receiver.  One requires the other to create communications.  Oh – you can transmit all you want but there is no communication until there is something to receive it.

In the center of the maelstrom of the allied efforts of World War II, Winston Churchill set himself up as a receiver.  Not only a simple receiver, but as a multi-band receiver who requested a fire hose of information from multiple directions.  He listened and he read.  He engaged in conversations with people throughout the government, conversations with the military, conversations with the public and conversations with people throughout the world.  His conversation were to gather more information, develop clarity, and help his team arrive at decisions that would deliver victory.  He used the power of listening and reading to understand what was going on, to understand the details as well as the “big picture”.

If you look at the way that Churchill communicated – both in what he said and what he “listened” to, there is a clear logic and beauty to the way he obtained and absorbed information as the Prime Minister.  This same logic can be applied to a supply chain leader’s viewpoint of information management.


Commands in Writing


As illustrated in an earlier post, Churchill demanded that all order, opinions, comments, questions and requests in or out of the office of the Prime Minister be in writing.  The main thrust of this requirement was to achieve clarity and to establish a history of the communication for the important orders.  His “Action for Today” memos were not only directives to take action – they were also requests for information, and in writing.

If you imagine Churchill sitting in his bed, the special desk on his lap, an assistant handing him reports and memos to read, clerks and secretaries at the ready at keyboards – you will see the 1940 version of an “official” blogger of today.  As he would read reports, news articles, memos and letters he would comment and respond – and a clerk would type the spoken word to paper.  The flow of paper into and out of the PM office was a choreographed chaos that was really brilliant in design and effectiveness.  There was a system – designed to manage the flow into and out of a single point of concentration – Winston.


Spoken Conversation


When he wanted to engage someone in critical thought, Churchill engaged on a personal spoken level.  His ability with the English language and his ability to play with tone and setting gave him power to provoke thought and opinion, to get the best ideas from those around him.  In group meetings he would urge comments from all.  In more personal settings he would listen with intent.  Churchill’s playful quips, the asides, the comments in sotto voice, the jokes, and the sighs, all were tools in his kit that he used to motivate the others to think, and to communicate back.  He could badger, nag, provoke – and would do everything and anything to get the ideas and opinions out of the people around him when he needed them.



Inward and Outward


Churchill possessed a deep and broad understanding of the world and his nation.  He knew of things that his subordinates did not know, and carefully used this version of “omniscience” as a leader to assure victory.  Key to his ability was the understanding that he had to look at both an “inward” and “outward” view of the war effort.  Inward was what was happening in the country, in the military, with the people.  Outward was what was happening in the world, what was the political winds in the US, intelligence on the Nazi efforts, what were the conditions in Cairo and Madrid.   It was a balanced and continuous feed of information that Churchill used to lead.

More is known now about the intelligence the Allies possessed about the German war effort than was public knowledge for over 30 years.  Through the cracking of the German Enigma code by the code breakers of Benchley Park and the electro-mechanical NCR code breaking “bombes” Churchill and his innermost leadership team had incredible insight into the tactical and strategic position of the Third Reich.  Churchill required the intelligence teams to consider all tools and sources, the decoded messages, aerial reconnaissance and the network of field agents and resistance fighters to provide “outward” reporting and vision.  Knowing what your enemy and your allies are thinking is an incredibly strong strategy to own.

Churchill encouraged research and reporting outside of the normal channels so that he had a feedback loop outside the normal government and military chain of command.  Early on Churchill requested the creation of the Statistics Branch – headed by Professor Fredrick Lindermann – that he would use to obtain data and information that may not be collected by the government in other ways.  He also used Professor Lindermann for information that may be “colored” by the “official” channels as the following request illustrates:  “Let me have on one single page a statement about the tanks. 

How many have we got?  How many of each kind are made each month?  What are the forecasts?  What are the plans for the heavier tanks?”  Requests and summary reports like these – based on clear and concise questions, gave Winston Churchill an independent eye on production and manufacturing.  This kind of reporting is an example of “inward focused from the outside” – where the point of view in not from “within the machine” but from an external eye.


Churchill also read the daily papers, both in the morning and in the evening, and not just one newspaper but many – from different cities.  He also read the newspapers from major US cities.  The newspapers gave Churchill a window into the life of the public, their attitudes, their troubles, the opinions and the problems that they faced.  Churchill gained insight into the US public from the window of the US newspapers and developed an understanding of the political challenges that FDR faced in 1940 and 1941 – deftly using that knowledge to craft his letters to the US president.  Often, based on the reading of the English dailies Churchill would direct the government ministers to take actions for the public welfare that would head off public dissention by asking the right ministry to take early action.  Churchill reserved a specific time for reading the newspapers – at the end of the day.  He would get through as many as he could before retiring for the night.  There was always more than he could read – but from what he did read he picked up priceless outward information about his clients – the British citizens.

For the Supply Chain Leader


For the Supply Chain Leader, understanding that the art of communications is more of reception and less of transmission is important.   Leaders are the target for many fire hoses of information – and the art is knowing which one to drink from and when.  The constant barrage can be fatiguing – but a leader who shuts off one or more of the hoses does so at great risk.  The right leader figures out how to manage the flow, the timing and the intensity of the flow.

Great leaders know that most of the focus needs to be “outward”.  Leaders who constantly look inward run their organizations into walls.  A leader needs to look inward to measure against what he sees as the needs of the customers and clients – but paramount is the leader’s need to look outward at customers, competition – the market.


Final Thoughts


Next time, we will look at the seventh of the 12 key behaviors of Churchill's leadership.


For the first seven installments of Schneider's Churchill series (including an introduction to the series), please visit the main Supply Chain Digest Website at www.scdigest.com under "Blogs."

Agree or disagree with Schneider's perspective? What would you add? Let us know your thoughts for publication in the SCDigest newsletter Feedback section, and on the website. Upon request, comments will be posted with the respondent's name or company withheld.


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About the Author
David Schneider is founder and president of David K. Schneider & Company, a supply chain and logistics consulting firm. Prior to that, he was Director of Logistics for Pep Boys Auto and a consultant at Keough.
 

Schneider Says:


...there is a clear logic and beauty to the way he obtained and absorbed information...


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