Smoke Screens and Admissions

(Photo: CBS Productions)

Hogan's Heroes is one my my husband's favorite television shows. Today's inspiration comes from "Klink vs. the Gonculator."

One of Hogan's Heroes' best episodes, "Klink vs. the Gonculator" goes beyond the series' standard spoof of wartime bureaucracy and offers a wide-ranging satire of corporate paranoia and behind-covering. When Klink becomes convinced that Carter's rabbit trap is a secret electronic device, Hogan seizes upon this misconception in order to help German defector Major Lutz (Noam Pitlik) escape to London. Persuading Klink that Carter's device is something called a "gonculator," Hogan further convinces Klink—and the German top brass—to bring Lutz into Stalag 13 as an "electronics expert." One of the funniest scenes finds both Klink and Burkhalter assuring each other that Carter's creation is "not as good as our gonculator." - Rotten Tomatoes

The gunculator was devised as a ruse to help a German electronics engineer defect. As the episode unfolds, none of the German officers/soldiers involved in corroborating the existence of the device admit to not knowing what a gunculator is or does. Eventually, the defector is brought to Stalag 13 to take a look at the device. The device malfunctions, causing a diversion—a smoke screen— under which the engineer is swept into the escape tunnel. In his place, the prisoners leave the smoking remains of his uniform. 

The entire episode revolves around each German officer assuming they know of the device when in fact they don't. Even when attempting to determine if the device exists, authoritative communication intimidates lower-level ranks. Not wanting to admit they don't know puts the entire organization at risk and helps the engineer escape.

Being vulnerable and admitting you don't know isn't easy. However, leaders with integrity choose the difficult right over the easy wrong. They admit they do not know. They phrase their communication properly as to eliminate the perpetuation of misinformation.

Wildland Fire Leadership Challenge - Digging a Little Deeper

• Do you have a hard time admitting you don't know the answer. Being vulnerable is hard. Watch this Peter Bregman video.

• Read Dan Rockwell's Leadership Freak blog post "How the Seduction of Folly Propagates Lousy Leadership."

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Pam McDonald is a writer/editor for BLM Wildland Fire Training and Workforce Development and member of the NWCG Leadership Committee. The expressions are those of the author.