Innovation and a Culture Of Conformity: DeMarco Banter

“Success no longer goes to the country that develops a new fighting technology first, but rather to the one that better integrates it and adapts its way of fighting …Our response will be to prioritize speed of delivery, continuous adaptation, and frequent modular upgrades. We must not accept cumbersome approval chains, wasteful applications of resources …

11 Reminders For Busy Leaders: Just Say NO To Status Quo: Neo-DeMarconian Memories

A short one this week--I found some old notes from our time in the UK.  I had these on my desk and just found it to be a great reminder--almost 9 years later.  I believe these were originally from  Terry Starbucker's site and I still like 'em Learn From History (So You Don’t Repeat It) …

The “Enlightened Rebel’s” Guide to Empire: DeMarco Banter

Or…what would Sir John Glubb Pasha say…Part 1 History has much to teach and offer in terms of empire’s rise and decline.  Great empires of the past such as Britain, Spain, Islam, Rome, Persia, and Babylon rose and fell over a period of centuries. Even Niccolo Machiavelli’s 1532 signature work, The Prince was a study …

Podcast and Interview with Bright Insights: Bill DeMarco and Paul Bright on “K” is for Knowledge

Very cool to be on Paul Bright’s “Bright Insights” Podcast—thank you for the invite Paul—wonderful to talk with you. Click here: https://link.chtbl.com/Demarcopart1 iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/k-is-for-knowledge-part-1-with-bill-demarco/id1468714783?i=1000488364213 From Paul’s Show notes: I'm very excited to bring you part one of this discussion with retired Air Force Colonel Bill DeMarco, Chair of Air University's Leadership Department and forerunner of …

Have You Ever Seen The Rain? Or The Decline of Empire Part II: DeMarco Banter

Driving home the other day, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s epic tune “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” was on the radio and it got me thinking.  What is the song about?  Clearly it is the end of a happy time—but to what end?  A quick Google search reveals it is actually about John Fogerty’s brother Tom …

Leadership: Machiavelli The Misunderstood: Neo-DeMarcoian Thought

Personality has a lot to do with how we understand Niccolo Machiavelli.  We have talked about how misunderstood the man may have been here on the blog many times.  Recently I picked up a somewhat newer translation of The Prince with an introduction by Tom Butler-Bowdon and reading through Butler-Bowdon's intro it only confirms my …

Thucydides, The Plague of Athens, COVID-19 and Leadership–DeMarco Banter

With Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) we find ourselves in interesting times—one might even say unprecedented; but I work with academics, and this was mentioned on a text the other day to which the response was, "These are actually precedented times."   What does that even mean? Unprecedented: never done or known before. Precedented: Provided with or having …