The Rules of the Game
by Andrew Gordon · first published 1996
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4HN commenters
2016–2026first – last mentioned
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If this subject interests you, I recommend checking out Andrew Gordon's wonderful book The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command (https://www.amazon.com/Rules-Game-Jutland-British-Command/dp...), which (among other things) goes into great detail on how complicated the Royal Navy's system of flag…
on “The defunct language of nautical flags” ↗…account of what he thought went wrong at Jutland to appreciate or agree with it. To get that account I highly recommend jumping straight to the book the article cites at the top, Andrew Gordon's The Rules of the Game; it's a brilliant work, packed with detail but accessibly written and clearly argued. This article recapitulates some of Gordon's arguments, but the book itself is such a pleasure to read that if you…
on “The Sinking of HMS ‘Victoria’ Led the Royal Navy Astray” ↗…aims, resolve issues and create the kinds of systems and cultures that do not need explicit direction. A great illustration of this idea in context is Andrew Gordon's book on the Battle of Jutland, The Rules of the Game[1]. He mostly contrasts the leadership philosophies in the British Navy shortly before and during the Battle of Jutland. The British Navy became very top-down and procedure-oriented during peacetime,…
on “Shift from a Leader-Follower to a Leader-Leader Approach” ↗…around the culture of waiting for signals (flags!) from the flagship and also around the personality of the Commander in Chief and some of the other admirals as well as the issue you mention. See The Rules of the Game by Andrew Gordon if you have an interest in naval history or how large organisations respond to change.
on “Safety lapses hobble Los Alamos National Lab’s work on U.S. nuclear warheads” ↗…big and small, mainly in the West, mainly after 1300. Very impressive overall, but for me the most eye-opening was the arms-race preceding WW1. Nothing in the Cold War arms race came close to that. The Rules of the Game - by Andrew Gordon. This is a 50 year history of the battle of Jutland. Meaning, one of the most thorough accounts of the battle of Jutland, plus a very detailed history of the 50 years preceding it,…
on “Ask HN: Which are the most interesting books you have read in 2022?” ↗