Rommie wrote:Which is why I prefaced it with "I'm not a huge fan of your army example because I'm sure someone will chime in saying I don't know army stuff."
I know that's different, but I think most people are not in the army in their careers or in positions like you guys are stating in their careers.
The example could have been better translated. Unfortunately, having been in the military for 40+ years it's definitely something I understand. And I have had the opportunity to watch it evolve a lot.
For example, making people march en mass until 2 AM as a group punishment was a fairly accepted practice around the time I entered into military service. So was a practice referred to as "Wall to Wall Counseling". Essentially the military equivalent of taking someone to the wood shed and giving them a whooping. Over time those practices were seen as abusive and not as effective as people thought they were in building team cohesion and individual self discipline.
At one time the army tried using "stress cards". The basic trainee could show his stress card when he was feeling overwhelmed and the instructors were supposed to give him a break to let him/her reduce their stress level. You should hear the old-timer's hoot and laugh about that one.
What is very interesting is the conversations that have occurred over the years with some very honest and sincere efforts to determine what qualifies as actual character and team building strategies and methods. Vs. actual abuse and just trying to break people for no better reason than "Because they don't belong in my Army". I have also seen that attitude in nursing and other professions where being able to deal with high levels of stress is part of the occupational profile. Nursing, police, firefighters, sports teams, and military groups are some examples where these evolutions have occurred. Or should.
College, I think, used to be a place where you were expected to "grow up" and the attitude was decidedly different then.
