The Tenth Man

Most people don't believe something can happen until it already has.

It's not stupidity or weakness, that's just human nature.

In October of 1973 Egyptian–Syrian military forces launched a surprise attack on the State of Israel.

According to many reports, the IDF and military intelligence had all the information in front of them, all the warning signs..

...and simply 'dropped the ball'.

Many former intelligence officers admitted later that they had never considered the possibility of an all-out, coordinated, conventional

assault from several nations and certainly not on a holy holiday.

Call it stagnation, call it rigidity, call it an unforgivable herd mentality.

But it happened.

Imagine a group of people all staring at writing on a wall, everyone congratulating one another on reading the words correctly.

But behind that group is a mirror whose image shows the writing's true message.

No one looks at the mirror . No one thinks it's necessary.

It took a war that could have drove the Israelis into the Mediterranean that taught them their lesson.

After that they decided that not only was it necessary to look into that mirror but it must forever be their national policy.

From 1973 onward, if nine intelligence analysts come to the same conclusion, it was the duty of the tenth to disagree.

The role of the tenth is to disagree and point out flaws in whatever decision the group has reached.

Also, it was up to the Tenth Man to have the option of writing "different opinion" memos.

The Tenth Man's job is to challenge conventional and received wisdom. The aim is to look at things .."creatively, independently, and from a fresh perspective, to engage actively with and to reconsider the status quo."

The Tenth Man "analysts search for information and arguments that contradict theses constructed by the intelligence community's various production and analysis departments. One anomaly is sufficient to refute a thesis, or at least to warrant a re-examination."

I think having a 'Tenth Man' is important.

I have several "Tenth Men' in my life, the one at the Jungle is Coach Paul Kent.

Paul comes to us from a world few are familiar with - the world of long-distance skate boarding.

And while the sport may be foreign to most, the brutal amount of work, determination and excellence that goes into creating a champion is comparable to any other sport.

With a keen eye for technique, a fresh perspective, and an amazing ability to deeply analyse movement patterns Paul is a true professional in every sense of the word.

He is also our Tenth Man.

One of my coaches from many decades ago used to tell us this...

"If you want to be successful surround yourself with people that tell you what you need to know, not what you want to hear."

The Jungle has its Tenth Man...do you have yours?