Afghanistan-Timeline-V4-Oct-4-2021

Excerpt – Lesson Learned:

• With the exception of the individual choices we make to shape our own destinies,
  the choices made by the leaders we interact with throughout our life journeys have the
  most profound impact on every aspect of our existence. On the battlefield, the survival of
  our soldiers, and, by proxy, our citizens and our society; in business, our job satisfaction,
  our productivity, and our company’s, countries, and kinfolk’s potential to thrive; and over
  time, the success or failure of our species in our on-going quest to evolve. “The way” we
  choose to lead and organize ourselves irrevocably influences our potential to survive,
  thrive, and evolve. Leadership Matters.
• The time-line of the decisions leading up to the collapse of Afghanistan reveals
  that the key leaders involved lack some of the most important qualities needed by those
  who lead and govern: a common sense of shared purpose, the ability to make sense of
  what’s going on around them, the ability to listen to their people and anticipate unfolding
  events, the capacity to make sensible choices based on incomplete information, and the
  flexibility and willingness to change their mind based on “the adaptive stimulus of what’s
  going on around them.” Their collective incompetence not only changed world history, it
  also changed our species evolutionary history by causing the deaths of at least 13
  American freedom fighters along with thousands of freedom-loving Afghans, while
  enabling hundreds of the world’s most despicable terrorists to survive, thrive, and evolve
  into the future.
• Note on Time-Line: This timeline is a living document, as key information continues to come out we will continuously update the time-line as appropriate)

About the Author: Peter Blaber (LTC Ret, Former Special Mission Commander) is also the author of  The Common Sense Way: A New Way to Think About Leading and Organizing.