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36 <a href="http://www.mca-marines.org/gazette">www.mca-marines.org/gazette</a> M a r i n e C o r p s G a z e t t e • M a y 2 0 0 9 IDEAS & ISSUES (LEADERSHIP) T he current training focus on decisionmaking is insufficient for developing Marines capa- ble of making creative deci- sions consistent with our maneuver warfare philosophy. A disproportionate amount of focus is placed on teaching Marines how to make a decision and execute tactics, techniques, and proce- dures (TTP). These skills are impor- tant in developing effective Marines and units, but they must not displace an emphasis on teaching creativity. Current training does address decision- making. Trainers must facilitate an ed- ucational environment that encourages independent learning and self-evalua- tion, tolerates mistakes and teaches how to cope with failure, and uses doc- trine, not TTP, as the intellectual foun- Good Decisionmakers Are Not Enough We need to train beyond the physical level of war by Capt Matthew Van Echo “If you only have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” —Russian Saying >Capt Van Echo wrote this article while attending Expeditionary War- fare School, academic year 2007–08. We have TTP down; now we need creativity. (Photo by Sgt Steve Cushman.)
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