Six Steps to Victory and "Mass Collaboration"

Message from Eric Egland, author of Six Steps to Victory:

Hey Team Blackfive,

Here is an update on "Six Steps to Victory--A Bottom Up Solution in Iraq:"

Feedback has been incredible. Blogs and e-mail forwarding have yielded hundreds of responses in the last few days from troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, active duty generals, Vietnam vets, civilian experts, and concerned citizens.

Thanks to sites like Blackfive, this has the makings of an internet-enabled prairie fire. The grass roots wisdom of the American people is awesome, and it is exciting to use the internet to tap into the collective insights out there, which are leading to action and informing the manuscript I am finishing for publication in the spring.

Hey, do you know anyone who is just about to deploy, or has just arrived in Iraq, preferably in a line infantry, ground-owner type unit? Goal is to implement Step 3--connect the American (and Canadian (Editor)) people to the effort by giving them the chance to directly support the guys on the ground.

I am trying to line up a few battalions who would want to get sponsored by a city here and use the WalMart 'wedding registry' to order what they need-- video games, dvd's and books for themselves; cell phone cameras, laptops and video cameras to give to supportive locals for help with spotting bad guys; and dolls, bicycles, microwaves and generators to strengthen relations with the locals.

I have the list of deploying units, but prefer to go grass roots so I don't have to put up with some brigade XO tell me to send a white paper and powerpoint brief--only to never hear back from him.

Let me know if you or your readers can connect me with someone from a combat battalion either in country or about to deploy in the next few months. I can explain that all they would need to do is go to WalMart.com and sign up for a gift registry account, tell their buddies in the unit, send me the account information and I will take it from there.

Once they start getting stuff, they can take pictures and e-mail them back here so the folks supporting them can get the feedback to see that their efforts are really making a difference. I have mayors, CEOs, nonprofit presidents, church leaders, Rotary clubs, political groups and other local leaders from Alaska to Florida chomping at the bit to help out. People here really want to help but don't know how--beyond prayers, bumper stickers and care packages.

This quotation ties in with an earlier post commenting on the original paper Six Steps to Victory. It, however, looks at the larger picture, the Armed Forces and their supporters. If people are prepared to financially support the troops directly to ensure they get the equipment they need, then is it such a big leap to imagine that those who are in a position to do so, may also directly contribute to the design of better equipment and tactics? The analogy is with the changing process of manufacturing, e.g. motorcycles in China and Boeing in the United States, where mass collaboration may become the norm.