Here is 'The Fog of War', a documentary telling the story of Robert McNamara. He explains his position in the cold war, Vietnam war and confrontations with past Presidents of the US and the press.
His 11 rules are as follows and what I have learnt from each one:
- Empathise with your enemy. - Think of what will happen after your actions, don't do onto others which you do not want done to you.
- Rationality will not save us. - Take a step back and assess the situation at hand, maybe even bring in a new mind in-case of tunnel vision.
- There's something beyond one's self. - Respect the professionals and the geniuses.
- Maximise efficiency. - Don't waste resources.
- Proportionality should be a guideline in war. - Know what your results mean and anaylse them against something you understand if you're struggling.
- Get the data. - Predict the future according to the data you've found.
- Belief and seeing are both often wrong. - Assumptions can often be wrong and you may feel regret after knowing.
- Be prepared to re-examine your reasoning. - Look and look again before acting.
- In order to do good, you may have to engage in evil. - Do what is best overall; even if there are negative repercussions initially.
- Never say never. - Expect any result or outcome,
- You can't change human nature. - Mistakes will happen but you will just have to learn. History will often repeat itself.
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