Downtime: The Unconventional Wisdom

Introduction
In a previous post, I discussed the three things which leaders need to provide in order to keep their soldiers in what I call “get the job done” mode. My intent was to show that a leader’s responsibility for soldier productivity is far greater than is commonly thought. It has never been my intention to suggest that “get the job done” mode is the only appropriate mode for soldiers in every situation. In fact, my opinion is quite the contrary.

The Conventional Wisdom
This may come as a surprise given the conventional wisdom on the topic. If you haven’t heard it yet, it runs something like this:

“Every day our enemy is recruiting, training, and fighting to destroy us. We cannot expect victory over such an enemy except through a total effort. Everything we do must advance our mission. As Reservists, we have only one weekend a month to train and to prepare. Therefore, we cannot waste one minute sitting around.”

Actually, the conventional wisdom is pretty good. Everything we do should advance our mission. The only problem with the conventional wisdom is that it fails to recognize the essential contributions which downtime makes toward that very goal. Aside from the obvious physical benefits of rest, downtime pays dividends in the mission advancing assets of unit cohesion and morale.

Cohesion
When my team leader collapsed from dehydration during my tour in Iraq, everyone sprang into action to provide the medical care he needed. There was no hesitation, only cooperation. It wasn’t just a team leader who needed help. It was a man with a first name…a man with a family…a man with whom we’d discussed every topic from restaurants to religion….it was a friend.

The bond which inspires such fervent and effective cooperation isn’t forged in front of power-point slides and field manuals. It happens in a game of basketball at the gym, during a meal at the chow hall, or over a game of cards at the barracks. Aside from actual combat experience, downtime is perhaps the most powerful engine of cohesion. Soldiers are formed during training, but units are formed during downtime. Fortunately, downtime does not need to be structured or planned in order to provide this benefit. It happens in the natural course of interaction between people with a common uniform and a common mission. It happens in little moments scattered throughout busy days. It happens for soldiers who have the goodwill to encourage it, and it happens for leaders who have the foresight not to prevent it.

Morale
Leaders who subscribe to the conventional wisdom will often do anything to keep their soldiers moving. Once their soldiers have completed all their scheduled tasks, these leaders will come up with as many more as it takes to keep them constantly busy. There are very few ways to make soldiers more frustrated, more quickly.

Tasks do not advance the mission unless they are motivated by the mission. In most cases, however, when a leader scrambles to come up with an endless stream of tasks, it is motivated not by a mission necessity, but by the conventional wisdom's irrational unwillingness to let soldiers rest. If the mission really demanded that these "new" tasks be completed, they could probably have been foreseen and ought to have been planned—not foisted upon a group of soldiers at what they thought was the end of a satisfying workday.

If something is worth doing, it’s worth planning. If something is not worth planning, odds are it’s not worth doing….even if that means having to enjoy the benefits of downtime.