[February 7, 2024] You may wonder why I’m writing about Nazi Ernst Udet, a man who oversaw the failure of the German Luftwaffe during the early years of WW2. I found that studying leadership failures is a fast-track way of learning to be better at what you do. But, more importantly, the lesson for senior leaders is to take great care in who you appoint to crucial positions within your organization.
There was a severe lack of planning and foresight in the Luftwaffe. In 1936, the commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, Hermann Göring, appointed Ernst Udet in charge of the design and construction of Nazi aircraft. This act is considered one of the primary reasons the Nazi air war failed. Udet was one of Göring’s WW1 fighter buddies. Sadly, for the Nazis, Udet didn’t know anything about production and procurement.
By 1940, the British, despite being bombed, were outproducing Germany in aircraft. And the Brits were innovative. For example, they produced the excellent de Havilland Mosquito, an aircraft made from plywood. In contrast, by 1941, Nazi leaders recognized that they were falling behind and needed to improve their production and procurement processes to get more planes to the front.
So, Udet did what he knew best, and based on his experiences during the First World War, he emphasized dive bombers over all other aircraft. He believed every German bomber should be made into a dive bomber. Senior aircraft designers like Ernst Heinkel tried to convince Udet to change his view of bombers, but he was overruled.
Udet’s propensity for dive bombers caused design delays and a move away from strategic bombers. For example, the four-engine Heinkel 177 bomber that was under development was ordered to become a dive bomber. This effort was a colossal mistake because it removed the bomber from the strategic bombing role and delayed production as it was redesigned. The outcome was that Germany never fielded an effective four-engine strategic bomber during the war, a capability needed by 1941.
Udet, with all his failures, committed suicide in 1941, leaving the Luftwaffe in disarray. By the time Germany replaced Udet, they had fallen so far behind that it was impossible to catch up with the Allies.
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NOTES:
- Learn more about this from DroneScapes on YouTube (53:20 minutes), “Death of the Luftwaffe | Fatal Mistakes Made by Nazi Germany And The Me 262 Jet Aircraft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyjxpxyhnXE&t=2546s
- See also “Lessons from the Failure of the Nazi Luftwaffe” https://www.theleadermaker.com/lessons-from-the-failure-of-the-nazi-luftwaffe/
- Ernst Udet was the most successful German fighter pilot to survive World War 1 and was awarded the Iron Cross. Indeed, he was a highly skilled pilot, demonstrating his abilities to public audiences during the interwar years. In 1935, two years after the Nazi party took over, Udet became a Colonel as the Chief of the Technology Department of the German Air Force. In 1939, he was promoted to the rank of General and had more responsibility than he could handle.
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Interesting article that shows that we can learn from history even when that history is a long time ago.
Excellent comment. If you fail to plan; you plan to fail. Poor leadership effects the team productivity.
Good info, Gen. S. I would like to read more about failed leaders. Keep these articles coming! 😊
Gen. Satterfield is all over the idea that you can learn from failed leaders as much as successful leaders. He writes often about successful leaders, less so about those who fail. I would also like to see him tackle those who fail much more often. That way, we have examples to read about and what to avoid. Humans learn and good humans learn how not to do stupid things that make us fail.
Another outstanding article to make us think. Well done, Gen. Satterfield.
Big big failure:
“Udet’s propensity for dive bombers caused design delays and a move away from strategic bombers. For example, the four-engine Heinkel 177 bomber that was under development was ordered to become a dive bomber. This effort was a colossal mistake because it removed the bomber from the strategic bombing role and delayed production as it was redesigned. The outcome was that Germany never fielded an effective four-engine strategic bomber during the war, a capability needed by 1941.” — Gen. Doug Satterfield.
Learn from this folks! Don’t keep doing the stupid same thing and expecting different results.
Over the target and bombing the cra@ out of them. mainer, you da man.
Excellent. Learn about failures to avoid them. That is what great leaders do. Focus on the victories and loses of leaders and vow to do those things that it takes to succeed. It’s not that hard. Today, Gen. Doug Satterfield has given us one of those lessons. So pay attention here folks. This is one of his main points throughout the years.
Great article, well done. Always good to learn how NOT to be a leader. 😁
That’s what this website is all about. Gen. Satterfield has the only leadership website that I follow and have regularly followed for years. And, I have both his books. If you don’t have one of them, then you are missing out. So, get you arse in gear and go to Amazon, search his name and order his books today. No, I don”t get a commission. Just do yourself a favor.
Thanks LM for the endorsemnents. 👍
Yes, thanks Laughing Monkey. Great recommenddations.
Thanks Gen. Satterfield for a spot on article about this guy Ernst Udet. You can do tactics well but strategy is a whole different level. Shows us that leaders should not put their cronies in important leadership positions …. like Joey Biteme.
We are learning more and more about the Nazis in WWII and that Germany was not really the juggernaut that we thought.