Seven Habits of Stephen Covey and what Geopolitics can learn from the 7 Habits

British jailbreak from Iraq prison and freeing/rescuing of SAS commandos was in the news this week. If Stephen Covey and his 7 Habits philosophy really has "real-world" applicability, then the seven habits should shed light on the British SAS prison break in Iraq.

Iraq and British military involvement seems, at first, to be disconnected from management guru literature such as the "habits" books of Stephen Covey. Yet, on closer inspection, Covey insists on a couple of relevant "principles" that any organistion, including the British military in Iraq, can benefit from. One of these is thinking about longterm consequences, another is building an atmosphere of trust. These are not hokey ideas, but practical and pragmatic "rules" of effective living. These are the kinds of rules that Covey focuses on in his Seven Habits series. But how specifically is this relevant to British military activity in Iraq?

Iraq, like anywhere else, is unlikely to welcome British or US military activity on its streets. So British military tactics must consistently try to build trust. This serves British military interests, as more trust means less British military casualties. Thus I propose that breaking down the prison walls of an Iraq state prison is, in the long-run, only going to cause more British deaths. This is because you must "always remember [all] the people involved," to quote Covey.

Covey and his ideas, in my opinion, have relevance for British military involvement in Iraq, and relate directly to the freeing from prison with tanks and force of British SAS military personnel. Without a foundation of trust, any enterprise is on shaky legs. The Covey phenomenon emphasises this, and could, perhaps, be incorporated
into British military strategy for Iraq.

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