12 Responses to “Some Words Of Wisdom From Mike Pannone”

1. Steve says:

   January 25, 2015 at 01:33

   Who is Robert E. Quinn? I found several possibles on Wikipedia.

2. entrygear says:

   January 25, 2015 at 03:32

   http://webuser.bus.umich.edu/requinn/website/

3. ScottieDag says:

   January 25, 2015 at 04:02

   Re-Quoting Machiavelli or Confucious. So many have done it. It’s like all the great lines one hears from motivational speakers….those all came from the bible. Not saying it’s not a great quote Quinn did but it’s hardley original. Like a lot of democrats he stole others ideas and had bad ones of his own, like the income tax for his state while he was Gov. “Trust but verify” Ronald Reagan. “Especially if they are a democrat”. Me

4. Terry B. says:

   January 25, 2015 at 04:40

   ScottieDag,

   I doubt that even Machiavelli or Confucious actually said many of the things attributed to them.

   And even if they did say what we think they said…it is likely that someone had said something similar even earlier.

   So there is nothing truly new under the sun. But it doesn’t mean we can’t still find “wisdom” in quotes like the one above.

   Even if they aren’t entirely original thoughts.

   TLB

   • DGM says:

     January 25, 2015 at 05:54

     You beat me to it, you razor you!

5. Jbgleason says:

   January 25, 2015 at 07:15

   Regardless of who said it first, this is some true wisdom. I tended to run against the grain during my career and my bosses invariably labelled me “high maintenance”. They put up with it because I pushed the norms and reaped the “benefits” they needed to be recognized but it always irked me that they invariably defaulted to the norm when challenged by superiors. If we aren’t here to exceed expectations, then why do we bother?

6. Mike Mike says:

   January 25, 2015 at 16:33

   I think Scottie Dog did say it was a great quote gentlemen. So what’s wrong with saying it was said hundred or a thousand years before. No one is reading Quinn books. Confucious and Machiavellie are widely read. Just repeating something one hears does not make them an original thinker on the forefront of enlightenment. And attacking someone for pointing out the obvious does not make one a defender of sagacity.

   • Terry B. says:

     January 25, 2015 at 20:45

     Mike,

     Certainly not my intent to attack ScottieDag in any way.

     I was lust trying to point out that “profound wisdom” often has many fathers.

     Now I have to go and look up “sagacity”.

     Thanks!

     TLB

     • Terry B. says:

       January 25, 2015 at 20:47

       That should be “just”…not lust.

       I need to fire my proofreader.

       TLB

7. Will says:

   January 25, 2015 at 22:10

   Be excellent[…]
   -Bill and Ted

8. Dellis says:

   January 26, 2015 at 15:08

   I always liked…..”Keep doin what yer doin and you’ll keep gettin what yer gettin”

   • Evets Steve says:

     January 26, 2015 at 17:42

     [quote]”Keep doin what yer doin and you’ll keep gettin what yer gettin”[/quote]

     Sorry @Dellis, but whoosh… you missed the whole point 🙁

     “Keep doin what yer doin” [being excellent] and the system will change so that your excellence is ‘the new normal’ and you’re no longer excellent, but back to ordinary. look at our current “leg” infantry, their ‘normal day-to-day’ is heads above anything ‘special forces’ did three decades ago. (for example: battery management, resupply while forward, managing multiple comms/multiple data circuits (down to the squad or even the individual level), over the horizon team movements, “mission command” vs. micromanagement of all unit movement (even down to the squad level sometimes), organic recon (such as man portable UAVs), interaction with the local population to build in-country stability. these (and many more) are all things that have become ‘normal’ based on the ‘excellence’ of past ‘special forces’ “deviants”.

     the challenge is how does one maintain excellence when the system absorbs your successes and makes you normal ? i surmise the answer Quinn is pointing us towards is to look for the hard/difficult things people aren’t doing and then do them. so, when any hayseed out of basic/inf school can run around all night with NVG’s, with a shared OTH tactical picture, can call in indirect fire, and reports to higher directly; we see new excellence in today’s special forces as they take on roles dependent on enhanced physical fitness and/or endurance and roles dependent on highly technical harvesting/exploitation/contravention of enemy tech whilst SSE’ing (on-site/in-place).

     “A rising tide lifts all boats”… and levels the playing field so you’ll have to try harder to be heads above the rest.