day no. 15,005: bringing up boys in boldness, initiative and responsibility

"Boldness is an essential moral trait in a leader for it generates combat power beyond the physical means at hand. Initiative, the willingness to act on one’s own judgment, is a prerequisite for boldness. These traits carried to excess can lead to rashness, but
we must realize that errors by junior leaders stemming from overboldness are a necessary part of learning.6 We should deal with such errors leniently; there must be no “zero defects” mentality. Abolishing “zero defects” means that we do not stifle boldness or initiative through the threat of punishment. It does not mean that commanders do not counsel subordinates on mistakes; constructive criticism is an important element in learning. Nor does it give subordinates free license to act stupidly or recklessly. Not only must we not stifle boldness or initiative, but we must continue to encourage both traits in spite of mistakes. On the other hand, we should deal severely with errors of inaction or timidity. We will not accept lack of orders as justification for inaction; it is each Marine’s duty to take initiative as the situation demands. We must not tolerate the avoidance of responsibility or necessary risk."

There are few better words one could reduce masculinity down to than, "initiative." It is the very essence of manhood. Do something in light of what you know. Adam was given a mission and marching orders and then left to demonstrate his initiative in seeing to the mechanics of making and multiplying. Adam was free from original sin, but that doesn't mean he could not through initiative discover better ways to accomplish what he was doing. 

Everything has problems. Problems are not a result of the Fall.  An overgrown world in need of a gardener is a problem. Adam was made to solve it. The problems were his playground. Sin did not introduce problems, it introduced new, more problematic ones. Sin did not make Adam's mission difficult, it made it MORE difficult. Difficulty is not inherently evil. It is hard-wired into the way God made the world and initiative is living in light of God's commands, using God's gifts to glorify Him in one's initiatives.

As parents, we must raise our boys to be bold. We must encourage their attempts to take initiative and cheer their boldness. When they inevitably use their initiative or boldness to sin, we correct the sin, but not the boldness. We discipline the sin, but not the initiative. Be careful in correcting men to separate the initiative, which is good, from the particular initiative taken, which may have been bad.

If a boy takes responsibility, but foolishly or sinfully executes the office; efforts should be made to correct the error and discipline the sin, but also to encourage the taking of responsibility. If measures are not taken, we will beat the initiative out of our boys. We will teach them that taking responsibility ends the same as if they hadn't taken it. 

You get more of what you incentivize and less of what you penalize.