The ‘Good Idea Fairy,’ the destroyer of motivation and crusher of souls, is back, and this time it’s haunting the drill field. As I detail in my previous work, ‘The Magic White Glove Effect,’ this phenomenon is all due to unrealistic expectations. Recently, I received a message detailing a ceremony rehearsal where a prepared junior NCO and his Color Guard team—versed in their drill and ceremonies (D&C) manual—were immediately overrun by senior enlisted and officers armed only with ‘ideas.’ The results were entirely predictable.
High Standards, Junior Responsibility
Members of a color guard are to be thoroughly educated and trained in their responsibilities. That is the job of senior leadership—to ensure adequate training time and proper equipment is available to their troops. The team operates on precise, published standards. Junior NCOs and other enlisted members on the team are the ones who spend the most time studying the manual—they are the subject matter experts (SMEs).
The “Local SME”
Let me go off onto the SME tangent for just a moment. As The DrillMaster, I am an SME on D&C and related protocol for the US military, first responders, and, where applicable, civilians. I have a number of years under my belt and am involved in this field daily.
The people I train and consult with then go off to their jobs, which may have nothing to do with this field, but are still to be considered the SME when they are requested to perform. We can call them the “Local SME”. These individuals are the ones who most likely know more about what they are required to do than the others in the room and that is by design, there is nothing wrong with that.
These “local SMEs” and their teams are responsible for the as close to flawless execution of ceremonies as possible, which directly reflects on the entire unit’s professionalism*.
*Please read that again and couple it with my previous statement: “That is the job of senior leadership—to ensure adequate training time and proper equipment is available to their troops.” After ensuring your team is properly prepared, you are then to trust them.
The Good Idea Fairy Defined
It is a phenomenon, not a person. Although some people tend to personify the Good Idea Fairy at every turn, it is still a phenomenon. It is the sudden, well-meaning, but usually misinformed involvement of, in this case, senior NCOs (SNCOs) and officers who haven’t performed D&C in years, if ever.
This person, suddenly overcome by the Good Idea Fairy, has a positive intent (e.g., they want the ceremony to be “more impressive,” “more audience-friendly,” or “look better to the Commander”) and usually makes the statement similar to “we want this to be more aesthetically pleasing.” That is code for “I don’t know what I’m talking about, but I have feelings about it and must be heard.”
Standards vs. Suggestions
The Standards.
- Army:
- Training Circular 3-21.5
- Army Regulation 840-10
- Army Regulation 600-25
- Marine Corps
- Marine Corps Order 5060.20
- Marine Corps Order 10520.3
- Navy
- Marine Corps Order 5060.20
- NTP 13(B)
- US Navy Regulations Chapters 9 and 12
- Air and Space Forces
- AFI 90-1201
- AFPAM 34-1202
- AFPAM 34-1203.
Sample “Suggestions”
- Flag Order: There are three colors in the color guard, the national (US), state, and organizational, put the US in the center!
- The only authorized position for the national color is at the front in Column Formation or the right in Line Formation.
- Equipment:
- Having the team wear white gloves in service dress (not authorized for the USAF).
- A rifle is a weapon, a sword/saber is a weapon, the guards will carry swords instead of the required rifles!
- The only color guard authorized to have the guards carry swords is the Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard in Barstow, CA.
- The Army has mounted Cavalry unit color guards in historic uniforms carry swords.
- The Navy has the USS Constitution that has a color guard that occasionally uses the mameluke for the guards.
- Movement: Suggesting a non-standard entrance ort exit or requiring color bearers in the states and territories formations (Navy RTC) to flourish their colors with sweeping motions to the left, right, and center (absolutely forbidden).
See the “Honor by Dishonor” Fallacy two-part series by clicking here for part 1.
Stop It
Again, as an officer/SNCO, you were to ensure adequate education and training took place for your junior NCOs before the ceremony and then trust their judgment that is based on published standards. But you didn’t do that, you constantly interjected your “ideas” and forced the team to bend to your will simply because you have more rank.
The dilemma: Does the team follow the published service standard, which is their bedrock of professionalism, or do they follow the direct order (or strong suggestion) of a superior? Following the non-standard instruction means potentially facing criticism from a D&C SME or just feeling completely unsupported and unprofessional.
Instead, you, as a senior leader, should ask questions and when your team, who you have ensured are adequately trained and properly equipped, tells you “that” is not possible, but “this” is, can then trust the input of your Local SME and make the appropriate decision based on published standards and not your feelings.
The Social Media Aspect of Fallout
Everyone has a phone, and everyone has the ability to take a photo or video of any event and then post that on the internet somewhere and that somewhere enables a horrible trashing of your troops who followed your “good ideas” that did not align with published standards.
We can’t guard against every moment and if honest mistakes happen and get posted, that’s just life and is more easily dealt with. However, forcing your troops to bend to your “suggestion” just because you outrank everyone on the team, is a recipe for disaster.
The Fallout and Frustration
The Good Idea Fairy wastes time. The team has to spend precious practice hours un-learning the proper procedures, learning the forced procedure, and then relearning the correct procedure.
There is enough stress in life. Add to that the stress of being in the military and all that it encompasses. Now add incompetent leadership; leadership that does not do their job by relying on the training and equipping their troops. The troops are to get “into the weeds”, but why should they when their leadership is constantly right in the weeds there next to them?
The junior NCO must diplomatically push back and explain established standards to a superior. This can be intimidating and professionally risky. But if that NCO, who was placed in that position by you, isn’t trusted to do the job, what’s the point?
The repeated overriding of the published standards undermines the junior NCO’s role as the (local) SME, leading to low morale and a feeling that their expertise isn’t valued. This is a devaluing and degradation of expertise.
You don’t trust because you haven’t done your job up to that point.
The Call for Trust
I am calling for:
- A return to trusting the experts—the junior NCOs—who train on the standards daily.
- Leadership must ensure adequate training and proper equipment for their teams.
- Officers and SNCOs to ask the junior NCOs, “What does the manual say?” rather than offering a suggestion. Emphasize that the highest compliment to a color guard is trusting them to adhere to the official standard.