After reading Erik Larson’s excellent new book The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family and Defiance During the Blitz, I don’t think Britain would have been able to fend off the Germans in WWII if it hadn’t been for Winston Churchill’s Rebel leadership and the Rebels at Work that he hired.

Most British leaders at that time belonged to the same private clubs, were alumni of the same boarding schools and universities, and lived in the same exclusive London neighborhoods. They had been taught to value loyalty, defer to authority and comply with one’s place on the social, political and military pecking order, which was often the same. To speak up and challenge the position of someone of higher rank was considered not only disloyal but career suicide.

Churchill realized this existing old-boy bureaucracy and mindset couldn’t mobilize and innovate fast enough. At one point early in the war British strategists believed that the Luftwaffe had as much as four times as many aircraft as the RAF. The German air force was pummeling Britain with superior technology, more aircraft and highly-trained pilots. Britain was outgunned.

A Rebel himself, Churchill hired Rebels at Work into key positions, most notably Max Aitken, a newspaper baron known as Lord Beaverbrook, as the Minister of Aircraft Production, and physicist Frederick Lindemann as his scientific advisor.

What did these outsiders know about scaling up for a new type of war? How deep were their military experience and credentials?

Not much.

But they did know how to get things done and they weren’t afraid of speaking up, calling BS, experimenting and taking chances, and focusing on the mission vs. their social standing and popularity. Neither was particularly liked, except by Churchill who valued their thinking and frankness.

“This is what Churchill wanted from Lindemann: to challenge the orthodox, the tried and true, and thereby spark greater efficiency,” writes Larsen.

As for Lord Beaverbrook: “Beaverbrook is not personally liked but people know he is the only man who can really cut the red tape, and he is welcomed as an ally.”

These Rebels shook up conventional thinking and cut through the “fusty practices of a peacetime bureaucracy,”

Churchill’s Rebel Leadership

In addition to hiring and supporting Rebels, Larsen brings to life Churchill’s Rebel leadership qualities, particularly:

A sense of optimism: “The speech set a pattern that he would follow throughout the war, offering a sober appraisal of facts, tempered with reason for optimism. ‘It would be foolish to disguise the gravity of the hour,’ he said. ‘It would be still more foolish to lose heart and courage.’”

Perspective: “One of Churchill’s great strengths was perspective, which gave him the ability to place discrete events into boxes.”

Communications clarity: “Churchill was particularly insistent that ministers compose memoranda with brevity and limit their length to one page or less. ‘It is slothful not to compress your thoughts,’ he said.”

The belief that the effort can succeed: “Churchill’s great trick—one he had demonstrated before and would demonstrate again—was his ability to deliver dire news and yet leave his audience feeling encouraged and uplifted… Only he had the power to make the nation believe that it could win.”

Instilling courage and unity: “Churchill demonstrated a striking trait: his knack for making people feel loftier, stronger, and, above all, more courageous.”

This book reads like a novel, capturing one momentous year in history (1940) and what it took to rebel against complacency and innovate like crazy. Highly recommended.