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Why our generals were more successful in World War II than in Korea, Vietnam or Iraq/Afghanistan

UC Berkeley Events · lecture · Watch on YouTube

Military history & warfareManagement, leadership & organizations

What it is

Thomas Ricks's Nimitz Memorial Lecture at UC Berkeley asks why US generals did better in World War II than in Korea, Vietnam or Iraq and Afghanistan. A central point is the WWII practice of quickly reassigning or relieving underperforming generals.

Why Hacker News recommends it

Used in hiring and management debates as an analysis of fast evaluation, quick dismissal without stigma, and the cost of keeping underperformers.

  • 3 people recommended it
  • 3 different months
  • 1 strong recommendations
  • first 2018, last 2024

What HN commenters said

  1. “Possibly the best analysis of this I have yet seen is the video”

    Hire quickly, evaluate within weeks, dismiss fast without stigma

    m0llusk, 2021-11 · Strong recommendation · in “Coding Interviews Are BS (largely)”

  2. “There is a lengthy explanation in this”

    Lengthy explanation of why firing underperformers matters

    AdrianB1, 2020-06 · Recommendation · in “Advice to new managers: don't joke about firing people”

  3. “This is a interesting talk held on UC Berkeley about the culture of firing officers during WWII”

    Ricks on culture of firing officers during WWII versus later wars

    sofrimiento, 2024-03 · Recommendation · in “Peter principle”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: thomas ricks, world war ii, firing, management, hiring, generals

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