justanotherghostwriter:… I want to argue with this, but the only coherent thing I can think i
justanotherghostwriter:… I want to argue with this, but the only coherent thing I can think is “…nO…”Sure, leave me to do the coherent takedown by myself *grumble*All of the Animorphs had excellent, complementary skill sets. But Jake, and only Jake, could’ve made a decent long-term leader. Marco was an excellent tactician, the definite brains of the operation. But his true skill was in finding the flaws in a plan and dismantling it. Had he been the leader, the Animorphs would’ve behaved far too cautiously to get anything done. Until the end of book 5, he didn’t even want to fight; he thought they should stay out of the war. He was smart. He was realistic. He was probably the most clear-headed of the group. And that’s why he was a brilliant tactician, and why he would’ve been an awful leader.Rachel had the opposite problem; she was too brash, had too much of a tendency to see every problem as a metaphorical nail to be slammed with the “go big and stomp it” hammer. She was an excellent enforcer, the perfect person to lead a charge, but she couldn’t have led the Animorphs. Cassie was brilliant at social dynamics, and in theory, should’ve made the best leader… but she was too uncertain of herself, and prioritised peace within the group in a way that would’ve been detrimental in a leadership role. Tobias was smart and idealistic, but he had hardly any experience with even having friends, let alone leading them into battle. Ax had the most information and the best anti-yeerk training, but he was an inexperienced alien who had trouble even relating to humanity.But Jake… Jake was not the smartest. He wasn’t the bravest, or the most inspiring, or the most morally secure, or the best at social dynamics. He didn’t have to be. That’s not a leader’s job. Jake had charisma, buckets of it; he was a high school jock, after all. Jake listened to his team and coordinated them. One thing I always found quite interesting in Animorphs was that Jake didn’t do all that much solo planning. Jake’s ‘leadership’ mostly involved being a chairman – calling for votes, and acting as a spokesperson. Marco, Cassie and Tobias were solo planners, and that’s part of why they wouldn’t make great leaders. A leader’s job isn’t to come up with the smartest plan and then tell everyone else what to do. It’s to understand the strengths of their soldiers, listen to them based on their areas of expertise, and coordinate them into a coherent plan that everyone will follow. Jake had enough charisma to be listened to in the heat of battle when there was no time for democracy, enough sense to listen to people who had skills that he didn’t, and enough respect for his fellow fighters to not snatch the metaphorical rudder out of their hands. He saw how their skills balanced each other, and he worked with it. Among those six, it really couldn’t have been anybody else. -- source link
#animorphs#jake berenson#marco