Jocko School: Podcast 38

[humortruthwin]

1:51:33 - "Most important, through all the different knowledge courses, there would be a COMMON THREAD THAT CONNECTS THEM ALL TOGETHER because that's what I think people are missing.
...I think we miss that UNDERLYING THEME through our educational system...When you don't connect things [i.e., math, science, music, history, etc.], they're weaker.
...I would foster THAT THREAD through everything so that everything made sense in a big picture.
1:55:08 - [In addition to the aforementioned survival, vocational, and classroom learning skills,]..."there would be a system of team building where you're gonna be doing things together as a team not only for your classes, but also cleaning the place, [et al].
Military camps: they turn cleaning into like a team building exercise."
--Jocko Willink, emphasis added


Great stuff. Just heard this for first time last night. Replayed it this AM. (In fact, I most liked the prior questions on The Cast of Pod #38 for "Not shaking boss' hand?!" Namely: "I WILL get my boss to do what I want him to do." Nailed it.)

Personally, I believe a Biblical worldview is the supreme COMMON THREAD to weave together all these moving parts.
Home-schooled kids tend to smoke the average public schooler on SAT's and such like, even though "standardized" is its own debatable misnomer.
More importantly, home-schooled kids tend to fare better in life, seen in areas which standardized tests don't capture.
To name a few: sense of purpose, identity, relationships, emotional stability, and--last but not least--HUMILITY.
Humility, among other things, comes from a reverence of, an honor toward, and a gratitude for authority. I don't see humility taught everywhere I look these days.
The Bible gives THE clearest moral instruction, thereby solving virtually all "moral gray areas" in life, leading to a life of clarity not confusion if the wisdom is applied. (For many people know these things, but don't apply them.) 
Humility also comes from the Bible's admonition that self-deception is found inside of every human heart, and that "sin is crouching at your door" per God's direct verbal warning to Cain.
Bible believer or religious or whatever, I'm never surprised when someone does something atrocious. Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"
  
Growing up, I was not home-schooled nor did I give a rip about the Bible.
I was humbled the old-fashioned way: "Pride cometh before destruction."

I've seen and lived on both sides. Therefore, I'm not a blind idiot to the fact that a lot of people reject the Bible. I was there; I get it. I cringe at some TV preachers that make stupid money and flaunt it.
That said, if God isn't at the center of this Jocko School, then without question I would have to say that the COMMON THREAD would have to be...."GOOD."
Attitude.
What a difference!
Question: Does the average school (whether it's public, private, or at home) teach "GOOD"? I tend to see more "NOT GOOD ENOUGH, Little Billy."
I don't think the average workplace teaches any form of "GOOD." Quite the contrary.
It's certainly not on the news or the proverbial Twitter Feed.
Of all the sports teams I've been on, I don't really remember "GOOD." However, I feel sports taught me more about winning, losing and teamwork than anything else, close second being what sales teams taught me.

"Oh, what's that? You have a learning disability? GOOD."
As a kid, successful comedian Michael Jr. had a reading disability. He "faked it" by (what he tells were) some seven different ways of understanding written words.
He credits his comedic vision to his reading "disability." (He has described his inventive tools on various clips, found on the internet if you're interested.) 
His reading comprehension was really the "flanking" of the context and such, which helped him to view all aspects of life with similarly creative and multi-angled approaches.

The COMMON THREAD at the Jocko School would be: "GOOD." 
Any school could teach the exact, same subjects as this hypothetical--and hopefully forthcoming--Jocko School.
But without the "GOOD" attitude (and for those that successfully graduate, a "DOOG" T-shirt at 10% off full price!!), it would just be another Anyschool, USA.  
"GOOD" is what takes any situation in life and spurs innovative thought and gratitude instead of defeatism and complaining.
"GOOD" can work with anybody, laying egos aside. What the business world calls "investing" and "cooperating," school calls "cheating." So backwards of reality.  

"GOOD"...."GOD"...."DOOG"...."DOG"....whatever. All pretty close.
There's a layered-leadership-lesson T-shirt concept in there somewhere.          

[mynewunit]

First, That is probably some of the best writing on the boards. 

Do they teach the Path in school? They can. To be honest, I tend to see it less in private schools than in public. I think private schools tend to avoid this except "your student needs to do better". Public schools have occasional rock stars. Jocko gets posts from teachers and principals that have adopted the warrior kid mentalities, and GOOD mantras. I also have gotten these lessons from many people in my public education path.  My elementary school principal, Marine English teacher, Football coaches, 2nd grade teacher,  High school principal, pre-calc teacher, comp sci teacher and drafting teacher. All these teachers taught me how to fail, do the little things, do the right thing, put in the work, and put the knowledge above the grade. 

Jocko seems to have an interesting relationship with GOD. Obviously he is against evil, and declares it exists in the world. He also spent years fighting people who thought they were fighting for GOD.



Jocko likes to use the term "The Way" and "The Path" . I think this is intentional but not devious. In almost a Jordan B. Peterson way, he doesn't want to have to defend or attack the bible. He also doesn't want to have to justify the warrior life with the bible. I think it is more to the extent that the characteristics of a good leader have not changed since the beginning of time. Even Mao's little red book states freedom needs to be given to the military leaders even if the public cannot be trusted with it. I think his intent is more to show how all cultures have similar means of doing things right and there are a lot of similarities in doing things wrong. Jocko does this in a way where it does not excluded. He could also be calling it mindset, culture, or goodness. I assume that being a war fighter has a different thread. Jocko is trying to illuminate that thread. Andrew Paul and JP wear their faith everywhere they go. Tony Effratti was just looking to join a gang, because he gave up on local culture. Jason Gardner is somewhere in between.