# Jocko Podcast

I've recently been extracting extraordinary value from the [Jocko Podcast](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jocko-podcast/id1070322219?mt=2).

Jocko Willink is a retired Navy SEAL commander, jiu-jitsu black belt, management consultant and, in my opinion, master rationalist. His podcast typically consists of detailed analysis of some book on military history or strategy followed by a hands-on Q&A session. Last week's episode (#38) was particularly good and if you want to just dive in, I would start there.

As a sales pitch, I'll briefly describe some of his recurring talking points:

*   [Extreme ownership](https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs/dp/1427264295). Take ownership of all outcomes. If your superior gave you "bad orders", you should have challenged the orders or adapted them better to the situation; if your subordinates failed to carry out a task, then it is your own instructions to them that were insufficient. If the failure is entirely your own, admit your mistake and humbly open yourself to feedback. By taking on this attitude you become a better leader and through modeling you promote greater ownership throughout your organization. I don't think I have to point out the similarities between this and "Heroic Morality" we talk about around here.
*   Mental toughness and discipline. Jocko's language around this topic is particularly refreshing, speaking as someone who has spent too much time around "self help" literature, in which I would partly include Less Wrong. His ideas are not particularly new, but it is valuable to have an example of somebody who reliably executes on his the philosophy of "Decide to do it, then do it." If you find that you didn't do it, then you didn't truly decide to do it. In any case, your own choice or lack thereof is the only factor. "Discipline is freedom." If you adopt this habit as your reality, it become true.
*   Decentralized command. This refers specifically to his leadership philosophy. Every subordinate needs to truly understand the leader's intent in order to execute instructions in a creative and adaptable way. Individuals within a structure need to understand the high-level goals well enough to be able to act in a almost all situations without consulting their superiors. This tightens the OODA loop on an organizational level.
*   Leadership as manipulation. Perhaps the greatest surprise to me was the subtlety of Jocko's thinking about leadership, probably because I brought in many erroneous assumptions about the nature of a SEAL commander. Jocko talks constantly about using self-awareness, detachment from one's ideas, control of one's own emotions, awareness of how one is perceived, and perspective-taking of one's subordinates and superiors. He comes off more as HPMOR!Quirrell than as a "drill sergeant".

The Q&A sessions, in which he answers questions asked by his fans on Twitter, tend to be very valuable. It's one thing to read the bullet points above, nod your head and say, "That sounds good." It's another to have Jocko walk through the tactical implementation of this ideas in a wide variety of daily situations, ranging from parenting difficulties to office misunderstandings.

For a taste of Jocko, maybe start with his appearance on the [Tim Ferriss podcast](http://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/09/25/jocko-willink/) or the [Sam Harris podcast](https://www.samharris.org/podcast/item/the-logic-of-violence).