Thoughts from the General: Important decisions – the bad and the good

Perry M. Smith, Jr. is a teacher, speaker, TV, and radio commentator and best-selling author, and executive producer of four videos.

Hundreds of millions of television viewers worldwide came to know him during the 1991 Persian Gulf War for his more than 100 appearances as a military analyst on network television. 

Smith served for 30 years in the U. S. Air Force. He commanded the F-15 fighter wing at Bitburg, Germany where he provided leadership to 4000 personnel. Later, he served as the top Air Force planner and as the commandant of the National War College. He flew 180 combat missions in the F-4D aircraft over North Vietnam and Laos during the Vietnam War. 

In 2016, The General Perry Smith Parkway near the Augusta Regional Airport was opened. In 2021 in Atlanta, Smith was inducted into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame. 

The book Rules and Tools for Leaders contain many checklists to assist those in charge of organizations, large and small. In the chapter on making decisions, there are eight essential items. All leaders need to consider each factor before making key decisions.

1. The Integrity check
2. The Sanity check
3. The Dignity check
4. The Systems check
5. The Safety check
6. The Strategy check
7. The Media check
8. The Implementation check

Let me cite some good and some bad examples of decisions. The first two are bad ones.

1. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. By totally neglecting strategy, Putin makes a horrible mistake. Putin neglected several other checks including the sanity, media, and implementation checks.
2. The advocacy last year of some city leaders to locate the new James Brown arena in the Regency Mall area flunked the sanity, media, and implementation checks.

Now some good decisions.

1. The acquisition of University Hospital by Piedmont Healthcare. Most of the decision checks were considered. Providing even better health care to those in our area was part of the decision by Jim Davis to approve the merger.

2. The decision two decades ago to form a community foundation in the CSRA. This is a classic example of good decision-making. The strategy, sanity, media, and implementation checks all played an important role.
3. Based on integrity, the decision by Brad Raffensperger to validate the presidential election of 2020. Raffensperger’s book, Integrity Counts, tells the story well.
4. Movement of Army Cyber Command from Northern Virginia to Fort Eisenhower. The crowded posts, the high cost of living, and the painfully long daily commutes in the Washington, D.C., area were all part of the decision. Strategy, systems, and sanity checks favored the move to low-cost and welcoming Augusta.
5. The F-15 fighter aircraft met the systems check exceedingly well. The engine, radar, cockpit design, pilot comfort, and outside visibility all dazzled me when I first flew this aircraft. The record of the F-15 in air-to-air combat is the best performance of any fighter in world history – 106 victories and no losses.

Future articles will cover good ways to plan, conduct meetings, handle the electronic workspace, hire the best folks and deal with ethical issues.

Perry Smith has published seven books. His most successful, with 350,000 in print, is Rules and Tools for Leaders. Jeff Foley is the co-author of the 4th edition. The book can be found on amazon.com.