A deadly miscommunication

To view this email in a browser, [click here](. INC. THIS MORNING A deadly miscommunication Good morning, Over the weekend, I got sucked into a Twitter thread -- an amazing theory, really -- about the 74th anniversary of the U.S. dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The author of the thread is Alex Wellerstein, a history professor at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, who studies nuclear weapons. It’s about the circumstances surrounding the orders to drop the atom bombs -- especially the second one, on Nagasaki. To understand his theory and see why it's so important even now, I need to set the stage with a quick chronology of events: - January 1945: President Franklin D. Roosevelt is sworn in for his fourth term as president, with a new vice president: Harry S. Truman, a former senator from Missouri. The two men are not close, and will meet only a handful of times before Roosevelt dies just four months later. - April 1945: Upon Roosevelt's death, Truman becomes president. Two weeks later, Truman is briefed on the atomic bomb project for the first time. - May/June 1945: Germany surrenders, but Japan fights on. Military planners tell Truman to expect as many as one million U.S. casualties in the planned invasion of Japan. - July 1945: The military tests the first atom bomb in New Mexico. At the end of the month, Truman goes to Potsdam, Germany, to meet with Churchill and Stalin. They're basically divvying up Germany and planning how Europe will look for the next 50 years. Truman is at a big disadvantage because he's never dealt with either leader before. At Potsdam, Truman gets his first briefing on how the New Mexico test worked. He learns about the military's plans to use the bomb against Japan, starting with the first attack scheduled for August 6. According to Wellerstein, Truman asks what the "schedule" is for other attacks. In response, the military [shows him a memo that reads]( "First one of tested type should be ready at Pacific base about 6 August. Second one ready about 24 August." The U.S. military did drop the first bomb on Hiroshima on August 6. Wellerstein suggests that the second bombing against Nagasaki days later was possibly a complete surprise to Truman. Wellerstein points out that the day after Nagasaki, Truman immediately took control of the scheduling, by issuing an order that additional atomic bombs were "not to be released over Japan without express authority from the President." Truman was also reportedly aghast at the scale of civilian casualties from the bombs. I find all of this fascinating and grim from an historical perspective. It's possible that the U.S. military dropped an atomic bomb, in part, because the commander-in-chief didn't realize the strike was planned -- and thus, nobody told the military not to. As a leader, you probably find yourself telling your team over and over: There there's no such thing as a dumb question. You try to improve communication. But do you ask questions of your team? Do you check small things? It’s easy to be afraid to do so, even though you're the boss. You don't want to come across as naive, or less competent, or even just annoying. Your technical team says it will have a new product ready by the weekend. Does that mean Friday close of business, or first thing Monday morning? A marketing director tells you she wants to try a new campaign in Portland. Is that Maine or Oregon? Obviously the stakes aren't anywhere as near as high as in warfare. But, I think great leaders should always spend time trying to identify miscommunications. And ask more questions. HERE'S WHAT ELSE I'M READING TODAY: On Saturday, Elon Musk tweeted that [he supports longshot presidential candidate Andrew Yang](. Here's why. --Business Insider A Harvard University study says that [PowerPoint is worse than useless](. --Inc. [UPS is betting on Amazon.]( --The Wall Street Journal [Your DSLR camera is extremely vulnerable]( to ransomware attacks. --The Verge Here’s [the most inspiring sports story]( you’ll see this month. --CNN Great moments in licensing: [There’s now a Friends-themed Lego set]( and fans are excited. --Scary Mommy This actress wanted to get her face recognized. Instead, [millions of people now know her]( for her voice. --Inc. Correction: Due to an editing error, Friday's edition misstated the origin of General Motors Institute. Kettering University, where Mary Barra earned her bachelor’s degree, was once called General Motors Institute. --Bill Murphy Jr. Contributing Editor, Inc.com Story ideas and feedback actively solicited. Find me at [billmurphyjr@inc.com](mailto:billmurphyjr@inc.com?subject=), or on [LinkedIn]( [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Click here]( to forward to a friend. This email was sent by: Mansueto Ventures 7 World Trade Center, 29th Floor New York, NY, 10007, [Unsubscribe]( • [Update Profile]( • [View in Browser]( • [Forward to a Friend](