Good episode for anyone interested in military side hustles. These are the projects that many in the military undertake that may complement the profession, but are not directly connected.
As Joe mentions in the podcast, someone can spend their nights and weekends doing any number of hobbies, most of which won’t cause anyone to bat an eye.
But if that hobby results in some kind of “observable” – there are some leaders who will view this as time wasted.
“Why are you spending all of your time on *that* instead of *this?*
From the episode, on the constant calls for innovation:
I think we see this a lot with calls for entrepreneurship inside the military – there are a lot of calls now for everyone to be an innovator and go disrupt, and we say that, but do we really mean it?
S3, Ep22: Mark Jacobsen – Growth Through Failure – From The Green Notebook
This reminds me of one of Colin Powell’s 13 rules:
“Be careful what you choose. You may get it.”
Leaders ask for more innovation all the time. The problem is innovation almost always means doing something a little bit different. It means being disruptive. It means coloring outside the lines.
In any large organization – especially the military – that is going to grind against the norm.
Leaders – especially those who have been steeped in the culture – need to take a deep breath and resist the urge to say “no” or “that’s not how we’ve done it before.”
Or my personal favorite: “Who told you to do that?”
Anyway, the episode is great. Especially if you are interested in pursuing your own side projects.
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Carrying the Gun 