Ira Chaleff's Blog, page 7

Dismissed for an act of Intelligent Disobedience

Dismissed for an act of Intelligent Disobedience

A naval captain is fully responsible for his or her ship. Captain Brett Crozier understood that responsibility and acted with Intelligent Disobedience when his chain of command was dangerously slow to respond to reports of the spreading contagion on his ship. More on Intelligent Disobedience in a moment.

The chain of command is critical but is not sacrosanct. The uniform military code recognizes this. Those in uniform are required to disobey...

Punishing an Act of Intelligent Disobedience

Punishing an Act of Intelligent Disobedience

A naval captain is fully responsible for his or her ship. Captain Brett Crozier understood that responsibility and acted with Intelligent Disobedience when his chain of command was dangerously slow to respond to reports of the spreading contagion on his ship. More on Intelligent Disobedience in a moment.

The chain of command is critical but is not sacrosanct. The uniform military code recognizes this. Those in uniform are required to disobey an...

Heroic example of Intelligent Disobedience

Heroic example of Intelligent Disobedience

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I received the following message from Alexander Voronov, a colleague in Russia who is one of the handful of international scholars who have deeply studied the works of Stanley Milgram on Obedience. Here is his poignant observation:

Dear Ira: It seems to me that the picture on the cover of the Russian edition of your book Intelligent Disobedience creates associations with the famous photo of August Landmesser http://bit.ly/32nuhyt

Heroic...

Wonderful examples of Intelligent Disobedience at work

intelligent disobedience at workplace

Part of the growth of an individual at work is learning how to do the job when it isn’t as defined as you would like. Learn to stretch yourself, make good decisions, and when you have to go outside the box, tell your boss why. Learning to think and occasionally show intelligent disobedience will help prepare you for bigger jobs down the ro...

US Asylum Officers Take Own Administration to Court

US Asylum Officers, with the support of their union, are exercising their obligation to Intelligent Disobedience in the face of orders that violate the legal and moral principles to which Asylum Officers are bound. This is an example of an ethically reasoned and orderly response to a policy they perceive causes harm and, in some cases, the loss of human life. Their court filing states the policy the Administration is pursuing is fundamentally contrary to the moral fabric of our nation and...

US Asylum Seekers Take Own Administration to Court

US Asylum Officers, with the support of their union, are exercising their obligation to Intelligent Disobedience in the face of orders that violate the legal and moral principles to which Asylum Officers are bound. This is an example of an ethically reasoned and orderly response to a policy they perceive causes harm and, in some cases, the loss of human life. Their court filing states the policy the Administration is pursuing is “fundamentally contrary to the moral fabric of our nation and...

The Freeman Field Acts of Intelligent Disobedience

This week I attended a presentation about the famed “Tuskegee Airmen” – the unit of African American pilots that was established during WW II when many parts of the United States officially practiced segregation of blacks from whites. I learned of an example of Intelligent Disobedience that is acknowledged as a forerunner of the Civil Rights Movement and its many acts of Civil Disobedience.

While the US military became one of the first major institutions to desegregate, in the WW II era it...

The importance of Intelligent Disobedience

What follows is distilled from an article written by David Lee Finkle or “The Real Mr. Fitz”. Regarding my statement that “intelligent disobedience must be taught in schools”, he adverts:

Not being part of the school system himself, though, I don’t think Mr. Chaleff realizes two things. One, that questioning things should be at the very heart of the educational mission, and two, that teachers can’t give away what they don’t have, and they are being told to not question orders, to do what...

Creating a military that is audacious

I am reflagging this article as it continues to be one of the strongest statements of the appropriate use of Intelligent Disobedience in the military.

In war the first principle is to disobey orders.
Any fool can obey an order

First Sea Lord Jacky Fisher

Recently I was doing an innovation presentation for the Army and came across the idea of Intelligent Disobedience by a guy called Ira Chaleff. Ira talks about Intelligent Disobedience maintaining a balance within in a military system wit...

Creating a Military that is Audacious

I am reflagging this article as it continues to be one of the strongest statements of the appropriate use of Intelligent Disobedience in the military.

In war the first principle is to disobey orders.
Any fool can obey an order

First Sea Lord Jacky Fisher

Recently I was doing an innovation presentation for the Army and came across the idea of Intelligent Disobedience by a guy called Ira Chaleff. Ira talks about Intelligent Disobedience maintaining a balance within in a military system with...