An organization without sergeants is an organization without a clue

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Good morning, Marketers, may you always do for others and let others do for you.

Strange fact of the day: 

The Russian Army has no sergeants. Sergeants have played a key role in the military as long as humans have had militaries. They are the institutional memory, the people who know how things are done and where things are. Their job is knowing that and training others so that information is never lost. You can see where that matters.

While training to become an officer in the U.S. Army I was told: Always listen to your sergeant. Why? Because while I had the authority to give orders, I lacked the knowledge to give useful ones. There are sergeants in every business. Unfortunately, they seldom get the recognition and recompense they deserve. Who are they in your organization? Are you smart enough to listen to them?

Constantine von Hoffman,
Managing Editor

About The Author

Constantine von Hoffman is managing editor of MarTech. A veteran journalist, Con has covered business, finance, marketing and tech for CBSNews.com, Brandweek, CMO, and Inc. He has been city editor of the Boston Herald, news producer at NPR, and has written for Harvard Business Review, Boston Magazine, Sierra, and many other publications. He has also been a professional stand-up comedian, given talks at anime and gaming conventions on everything from My Neighbor Totoro to the history of dice and boardgames, and is author of the magical realist novel John Henry the Revelator. He lives in Boston with his wife, Jennifer, and either too many or too few dogs.