“Thus was obscured the fact that his most essential contribution to British naval mastery was as a trainer of Collingwoods, Blackwoods and Hardys: his greatest gift of leadership was to raise his juniors above the need of supervision.” — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“steam-tactics saga illustrates that (4) Rationalism, unlike empiricism, tends to assume an accretion of vested interests.” — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“The one lesson to be learned is the necessity for every officer to cultivate belief in his own judgment, so as not to be… — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“Many of the more ghastly and idiotic aspects of the Great War were made possible by the coincidence of mass-production and the social religion… — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“The literal meaning of ‘doctrine’ is “what is taught within a group as its corporate beliefs, principles or faith”52 – although “what is learnt… — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“(20) There is an inverse law between robust doctrine and the need for signalling.” — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“that (11) Purveyors of technical systems will seek to define performance criteria and trials conditions.” — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“By the close of the Victorian age Britain’s officer classes were increasingly the inheritors, rather than the winners, of empire.” — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“can therefore attribute the many reporting failures at Jutland to a cocktail of factors, including: (a) lack of initiative, and ‘seniority knows best’; (b) fear of being direction-found; and (c) insidious organizational flaws. Perhaps all senior officers, not just Goodenough, should have gone to their cabins at nightfall on the 31st of May, had a glass of port, and thought… — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share
“Some of them are blinding glimpses of the obvious (BGOs), several overlap, and I make no claims of discovery. The fundamental proposition – and the one from which most others flow – is certainly a BGO: (1) In times of peace, empirical experience fades and rationalist theory takes its place. This trend, we may aver, is most marked in periods… — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share
“My comments are directed at the system which was responsible for their poor performance, not at the officers concerned. I do not recall ever… — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“(19) Signalling promotes the centralisation of authority.” — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“Signals’ prioritising mechanisms become dislocated in times of overload.” — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
![“My comments are directed at the system which was responsible for their poor performance, not at the officers concerned. I do not recall ever having taken part [before the war] in an exercise that was other than a set ritual, which, while not without value, certainly did little to prepare us for…” quote by Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/12c/gilbert-andrew-hugh-gordon-156_poor-performance_my-comments-are-directed-at-the-system-w_497405.jpg)
