Message to Garcia
There’s a short novella from 1899 called “A Message to Garcia.” It was one of the key reads in the Marine Corps.
During my time, the Marines really championed this book. And I have encouraged everyone on my team to read it too.
The story is about the Spanish American War in Cuba. They had to get a message to a General Garcia, who was leading the insurgent forces on America’s side. Nobody knew exactly where he was.
Private Rowan. You have to get this message to General Garcia.
In the story, he didn’t ask, well, where’s General Garcia? How do I get there? What water do I need to take? Will there be bad guys? Who do I take with me?
He just disappeared into the jungle and emerged weeks later. Tattered and torn and bruised. He was successful. He delivered the message to the general.
That’s the whole story.
But here’s what I think about. What is the culture that created the Private Rowan who knew he could just go do it? He’s like, I’ve never been in Cuba before. I don’t know what hills are there. But I know I have what it takes to get it done.
It’s the mission and the belief that you’re capable of executing it.
That’s what the Marines taught me. And that’s what shapes how I look at culture at my companies.
Most people don’t really know their mission. They get lost. They stall. Private Rowan understood: get this to General Garcia. Everything else was just details to figure out along the way.
I want to find all the Private Rowans out there. I want to build the environment that creates them.
When you build a culture where people understand the mission and believe they are capable of executing it, you don’t need to micromanage. You don’t need to approve every decision. You give them the mission. You give them the tools. And you trust them to deliver.
That’s what Message to Garcia taught me about leadership. Build people who take the letter and go.
Nice. The analogy is sound, and if every individual on the team understands and internalizes the same mission, then collaborative action can be assured. It’s not always the case that everyone understands and interprets the mission in the same way, so you have to check. And missions tend to be finite. Purpose feels a little bit longer term; you can have a forever purpose, but not a forever mission. Getting people to understand a purpose in the same way, and align their long term behavior to it, is a greater challenge, but worth taking on. As Elon puts it, “Colonize Mars!”