Thought to Action
Benjamin Franklin is credited with the maxim, “Do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.” Time is one of our most important commodities. Circumstances this past year have afforded many people, within and outside of the military, an abundance of time to think and pick up new hobbies. Military broadening assignments similarly bestow opportunities for intentional reflection. Taken together, the past year’s conditions have given us time to think about where we stand, professionally and personally, perhaps more so than at any other point in our fast-paced careers. We readily embraced this moment, using the opportunity for self-assessment, contemplation, and venturing into new academic disciplines. After a lot of reflection, we wondered whether we could pay our collective thoughts forward to the profession that has already given us so much. Hence, Thought to Action, the series of articles that begins today, was born.
“Thought to Action looks to help military professionals succeed where we have failed.”
Thought to Action looks to help military professionals succeed where we have failed. In doing so, we seek to speak directly to the newest members of our force about the military experience by providing candid, down-to-earth, and multi-disciplinary commentary that you won’t be able to find as readily elsewhere.
Born out of our friendship and mutual desire to steward the profession of arms, Thought to Action presents the fruits of our contemplation in the hope that the reader may incorporate them into his or her own actions. We draw inspiration from The Thinker, sculpted by French artist Auguste Rodin. Rodin’s Thinker appears deep in thought, but primed for action. The figure brings to life an ancient theory of reality promulgated by Aristotle: all beings are a composite of both actuality and potentiality. A thing actually is something in the present, but simultaneously has the potential to be something else in the future. For example, a young woman in basic training is both a basic trainee and a future service member. Aristotle’s understanding of act and potential helps us understand change and development. Applying this concept, our goal for Thought to Actions is to help our readers and contributors realize their full potential and grow as leaders.
While we offer a mix of perspectives and experiences, we won’t claim to have life or the military all figured out. But we do hope that by engaging with junior leaders and airing our flaws, we can be a resource for the next generation of those who choose to serve.
What you shouldn’t expect to read in this blog are articles talking about all the ‘good things’ we have done in command or as leaders in the military. While we’d like to think we’ve had some successes, Thought to Action is not a forum for ‘look at how great I did in X, Y, or Z,’ but rather an introspective, critical look at ourselves throughout various points in our careers.
What you should expect are articles ranging from the philosophical to the tactical that can hopefully help you learn from our mistakes. We draw from our own diverse experiences and share the introspection we have been luckily able to gain after our myriad failures (and some successes). This material is not meant to make headline news. Rather, it is designed to give you digestible content that might help you make your organization better.
Our authors hail from a variety of backgrounds of service, personal history, and life. These differences can be as simple as duty location or as big as branch of service and commissioning source. The perspectives that each of us bring to the table will hopefully cover something that you will encounter in your career, or expose you to a topic that may not be featured in other military publications.
Each week, you’ll see a new article from one of us on a topic of our choice.
Each week, you’ll see a new article from one of us on a topic of our choice. We review each other’s articles, so that, ideally, every product you see will be polished, well thought out, and academically rigorous based on our respective credentials. You can check back on our blog each week for new content, or sign up to receive the weekly article directly in your email inbox. In our inaugural article, to be published on Monday, May 10, Brian Fiallo ponders “The Riddle of Steel” from the classic 1980s film Conan the Barbarian and shares its applicability to the modern servicemember.
A small organizational note: for ease of reading, we plan to organize our blog into several categories. These are as follows: About Us, Character & Ethics, History & International Affairs, Leadership & Management, Science & Tech, and Our List. All are relatively self explanatory, save for Our List, which is where we have curated an ongoing list of resources to check out: books, book reviews, podcasts, articles, etc.
Lastly, and perhaps this goes without saying, but the views expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect the official positions of the Department of the Army, Department of the Air Force, Department of the Navy, or Department of Defense.