General Knowledge (An evening with General Sarath Fonseka,)

I was not sure what to expect. But of course the title really intrigued me. Winning Militiary strategies for management. I have read about big conglomerates such as GE holding cross pollination brain storming and management sessions with Military personnel in order to fine tune their management processes. You see if you look at it there is beauty in the way a fine army moves forward. On one side it has very strict guidelines on how to operate and on the other it has to respond really fast to ground situations with speed skill and creativity instantly otherwise everyone risks losing their lives. Well that was the back ground.
We were asked to come in to the Hilton at least by four which we did and it was a good thing. Firstly the entire surroundings were bristling with military personnel toting machine guns and looking at you menacingly. Then there was a long line of people waiting to be registered. And sadly once you are registered you have to hand your phone over. I was looking forward to taking some pics and uploading them into face book along with updating my blog and doing some stuff while we would have to wait for everybody to come in and the place to be secured before the general came. But it was not to be. Well after registration it was time for checking. I must say I was checked thoroughly. Everyone had to even remove their shoes. I am thankful that I did not wear any socks with holes in them.
Once inside I could see lots of big names around me. You could say that one could feel the excitement and the anticipation. And after a long wait the man himself walked in. Firstly I have always thought of him as kind of cruel. He did not come dressed in his uniform but decided to don a civilian outfit instead. The place was also full of other Army top brass they too were not in uniform. However it was easy to identify them because they were allowed to carry their mobile phones inside.
I thought he would talk down to the people. After all he was a great man who had achieved the impossible. Even though there were lot of top businessmen and CEOs present at the function you could see the heroic adoration in everyone’s eyes. Well he started by saying “I have a difficult task ahead of me” and everyone burst into laughter. And then I knew that I had made the right decision to come for the event. He was humble and straightforward and came across well. He apologized for not being a good public speaker. But he did give some wonderful insights about what measures had to be taken to make sure he won the war. Actually some of his statements really inspired me and gave me food for thought. Actually what he said made brilliant business sense. He said capability should take priority over seniority. As well as execution was important. As well as keeping to a time line.
This is so true I have a friend who was leading a battalion of men in the front and he told me he was given targets just like a CEO and his mission was to achieve them as per the plan. He had the freedom to use whatever resources were available instead of asking for permission. And he would sometimes get calls from the general while an operation was going on giving him instructions.
Well the general got two standing ovations which I thought he richly deserved. Also it was nice to see Prof. Gunapala Nanayakara fawning over him and equaling him to all the great military types in the world. From sun tzu to ho chin minh to Genghis khan.
I must say I never expected to laugh as much as I did at this function. But I did there were two extremely hilarious moments. Both were during the question and answer session.
The first was when someone had asked a question why was the military still hiring when the war was over? His first response was I thought I had to explain this only to the president. Well I must say I too had been skeptical about the ongoing recruitment. In fact I was of the opinion that they were hiring because certain designations (ranks?) required a minimum number of people which one should command over. But his answer made complete sense. He said to hold the area with people coming back in to the war zone you need a larger force than when just attacking. His example was Jaffna. It took 15,000 to capture Jaffna but now it takes 40,000 to hold it. He said otherwise what would happened is it would end up like what Iraq and Afghanistan have become today. I must say this makes sense. So guess we will see more bodies in the military than before.
The second situation was when professor GN asked him about people from other forces taking credit for the victory he was told he could refuse to answer the question. The generals answer was I don’t believe in retreating which had the house roaring once more.
Well sadly once everything was over I had to rush out without getting a chance to talk to him because I had to have access to my phone as some important stuff was being done at the agency. Otherwise maybe I might have been able to pose for a photograph with him. He he. Well all in all it was a pretty eventful evening and I must confess that I am glad I did not miss it.