It is with growing frustration that I have read news’s many well-documented cases of bullying, harassment and abuse of power in the Norwegian Armed Forces. Not because this is in any way new or reveals the whole picture, but because the management still believes there is no unculture in the organization and therefore does not initiate the extensive but absolutely necessary work needed to change it. The previous and current Chief of Defense have both come out strongly and claimed that there is no lack of culture in the organization because there are also so many fine people there. Instead, the cases that have reached the media are still talked about as deviations and reduce the problem to only challenges with notification handling. The core values of respect, responsibility and courage are repeated so many times, and at such a pace, that there is a danger of heat generation. But they remain completely empty words when they are not translated into action. And then I ask the question: What on earth does it take for one to admit unculture and to initiate the much-needed and systematic organizational work to get rid of it? Even more rapes? An even higher percentage of bullying and harassment? Or more unjustified dismissals and abuse of power? More freezing of whistleblowers? Or even more secrecy about unacceptable behavior from senior officers? Is it the case that EVERYONE in the Armed Forces must engage in this kind of behavior before it is called uncultured? There is plenty of research, concrete figures and evidence of unculturedness in the Armed Forces, so let me put it this way: “If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck – then it probably is a duck”. Of course, most people who work in the Armed Forces are skilled and honorable people, that would just be missing. I would argue that most people can also tolerate people saying there is unculture in the Armed Forces, without being personally attacked because they have not done anything wrong themselves or experienced abuse themselves. I think the vast majority choose to stand shoulder to shoulder with those who have had to pay the price for the lack of culture and lack of leadership, in a desire to do what is right and right. Most people want to put an end to the culture and ensure that the Armed Forces fulfill their missions. And if I’m wrong, the problem is even worse than expected. In my opinion, it is therefore completely misunderstood if the management thinks that the most important thing now is to protect the skilled and honorable people in the organization from a definition of uncultured. They can’t be that sensitive. The priority must first and foremost be to make sure to change what is unhealthy in the organizational culture in order to prevent unwanted actions and situations in the future. It is a mockery of the whistleblowers if the management boasts that the whistleblowers are tough and take the brunt of coming forward, when the management at the same time fails to address the unculture and continues to protect and promote abusers. How can the Armed Forces as an organization afford this? The defense communicates that the culture can be improved in certain areas, but at the same time says that much of this is also a societal problem. But the Armed Forces must be much better than the rest of society. After all, we are all specially selected and have a very serious mandate that includes managing violence on behalf of society. Then more is required. But instead of addressing the unculture, I am told that the management has used senior officers, time and resources to undermine issues they do not want to reach the general public. Not to grab them quietly, but because it wouldn’t look good if the public got to know them. Culture is not only how we do it here, but also what you get away with. As the Australian general David Morrison said: “The standard you walk by is the standard you accept!” I therefore claim that there is a lack of culture of accountability in the Armed Forces – and accountability is an important principle in working with and changing organizational culture. It requires leadership and a system that recognizes and rewards good work and that clamps down on and punishes undesirable behavior in order to achieve the goal that has been set. But in the Armed Forces, strangely enough, leaders who contribute to the unculture are also allowed to continue up the leadership structure. The Defense “must give people another chance”, said the Chief of Defense to news as a comment on one of the notification cases. But if the problem is to be solved, it is almost impossible if the management itself is part of it. It will be like putting the fox in charge of the hen house. Let me exemplify with a few of my own experiences from working in the Defense Staff for organizational change within the Armed Forces. I have worked there on topics related to diversity, equality, bullying and harassment, gender perspective in the organization and operations for several years, but it has largely fallen on deaf ears. Fortunately, the media has now done a thorough job, but the cases that have come to light are not exceptions, they are the tip of the iceberg. Unculture has been reported for many decades, without any consequences. Eventually, I was told by one of my managers that the Armed Forces only had such a position as I occupied because they did not dare not, but would rather not be challenged or do anything about the subject. A working group I chaired recommended, for example, that the Armed Forces should have an independent review of how we select leaders to ensure that we do not discriminate and to prevent nepotism (read: the boys’ club is fine) – that we should, in a sense, ensure legality and good quality in the selections . This was one of the 40 recommended measures, and which we thought was unproblematic – because surely all organizations want to ensure that they have a good system? But as the report was public it was a crisis, to our surprise we were called a disgrace to the organisation, we lacked both competence and insight – imagine proposing something like that! The defense has such a good system. In light of what is now being documented among the Defense’s leaders, perhaps it is finally time to at least evaluate it anyway? I also for a time led the work on the development and follow-up of the MOST investigation (bullying and sexual harassment) on the part of the Defense Staff. When the preliminary figures came in at the end of 2018, I told the management that these are very ugly matters and will require great effort and change management from the top. We simply did not have the power to take care of our personnel. The management said that the Armed Forces had such a good reputation in general among the population that by dealing with negative issues like this in terms of communication, the Armed Forces only suffered a dip, before the good reputation was restored. A few days later, I was simply tapped on the shoulder and informed by a male officer from another department, with a higher degree level than me, and who had not worked on the topic before, that he had been told to take over my management duties with MOST until this calmed down. I of course said that this was inappropriate, but another form of loyalty was clearly more important than professional competence and experience. By the way, he has been promoted again. I have also been instructed from the top to embellish reports so that we look better than we are, which of course I neither can nor want to do, so they have ended up changing it themselves. In addition, I have disseminated my own and others’ research which shows that the Norwegian Armed Forces are not fulfilling their missions related to women, peace and the security agenda – also due to the organizational culture. It resulted in me being asked to take off my uniform if I were to talk about the research – even though it was the Norwegian Armed Forces that had paid for it, and even though it was as an officer that I was asked to lecture. Also read the defense chief’s statements: The defense admits a notification failure I responded by asking for a written order on the decision, but then they had to think again – then the approach was that they would rather decide who I could talk to. A classic attempt at the “gag rule”, to gag those who speak up. I have been on the offer side the whole time, open about everything in several forums, told about the situation through meetings, articles, speeches and lectures – but the management has chosen to respond with deafening silence – so quiet that I didn’t even get the traditional resignation and coat of arms everyone in the Armed Forces receives when they travel to a new place of duty. This is how you are rewarded in the Armed Forces if you speak out about unculture. Even when you are proud of your career choice, you sincerely want the organization to succeed and to be constantly referred to as the Armed Forces’ most cheerful officer. My motivation has always been to support those who have to pay the price for the management’s negligence, because the Armed Forces do not solve their missions and do not take care of their personnel. That’s why I think we need a leadership that can and wants to put an end to unculture. The first step is to admit that you have a serious problem, a lack of culture. Because what you call it, the diagnosis, is not just semantics – it is essential in relation to the measures you put in place. Because it is only when you know where you are that you can take the correct compass course to where you want to get. If we continue as now with “minimization” of the challenges, with measures that are not based on real knowledge of the extent of the problem, then we will not reach the goal either. It is possible that some will achieve their personal career ambitions, but as an organization we fail. We fail ourselves, we fail our colleagues and we fail the Norwegian people who are our clients. It is time for a serious clean-up in the management. Several who have had definition and decision-making power so far have not delivered. And it not only affects the individuals who are affected, of whom we have seen so many in the media recently, but it also affects our operational ability. And since the Defense’s leadership does not see it themselves, the Ministry of Defense must step in – now! Follow the debate:
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The defense leadership must take responsibility – Statement
