This article is from Michael Reid, an Engineer Officer in the US Army. He's commanded abroad in Afghanistan and in the historic 82nd Airborne Division and is currently pursuing graduate studies. In this piece he retools the famous "Allegory of the Cave" by Plato to help leaders think through perception and reality.
“Reality Shock” is a term used in organizational psychology to describe a condition in which a new member of a profession experiences disorientation, anxiety, and disappointment when the reality of their new environment doesn’t match their initial expectations.
Plato’s famous “Allegory of the Cave,” described in his book “The Republic,” involves a similar reality shock experience. The allegory describes a hypothetical group of prisoners chained inside a cave their entire lives, their only knowledge of the real world coming from the shadows cast on the cave wall by people controlling what they see as well as things outside the cave. When a prisoner breaks free from his chains one day he escapes the cave and is instantly blinded by the light of the sun and shocked by the depth, breadth, and fullness of the real world as he sees it for the first time. After coming to terms with the shock of this revelation, he returns to the cave to tell the other prisoners about what the real world is actually like and offers to set them free. Instead of expressing gratitude they don’t believe him, rejecting the notion that the shadows they believe are so real are not the most accurate expression of reality, and ultimately refuse to be set free.
I think about this allegory and the idea of “reality shock” a lot and how it applies to what we do as leaders, especially those of us who serve.
Reality shock is the new platoon leader discovering that her job involves a lot more than just physical training and tactics. It’s the new staff officer finding out that success requires a lot more than just being a subject-matter expert and that frequently retreating into or refusing to branch out from specialized pursuits will result in failure. It’s the new paratrooper realizing that there is a significant amount of discomfort before, during, and after jumping out of an airplane that easily counterbalances any cheap thrills experienced in the actual act of parachuting. It’s the new military advisor realizing that his/her foreign partner has zero obligation to respect his/her advice or even to accommodate requests for information/access that would facilitate advising. And it’s the combat soldier learning that the enemy has no obligation in a firefight to pop up chest high, making a perfect "range-practiced" silhouette to be shot... and also realizing that medical kits and body bags are part of the packing list for a reason.
Reality shock often involves two distinct failures: The first is a failure of leaders, trainers, and mentors to manage newcomer expectations through communication, realistic training, and leader development efforts to reduce blind spots. The second is a failure of newcomers to appreciate that they have a responsibility to manage their own expectations and to appreciate the fact that the "shadows" they think are so real are merely reflections of an actual reality. Of course, they can’t possibly comprehend this reality unless they open their minds to learning more than what they already think they know.
For anyone who is currently preparing for something that they have never actually experienced firsthand, understand that what you think you know is only a shadow or reflection of an unknown reality to come. Make certain that you don’t get too comfortable in accepting those shadows as reality.
Plato once said “I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.”
Now I must ask... what’s your reality?