When we had assembled, Captain Cheerall entered briskly, looked at us—and—smiled. A good beginning! We decided not to sleep, but to plumb his depths.
‘Gentlemen, you may smoke, if you like. I find it breeds a friendly feeling.’
‘Good chap!’ mumbled Beefy.
‘Now that all your chimneys are going, I want to have a chat with you about Psychology; but before I start, let me say to you—don’t hesitate to pull me up if you disagree. Ask as many questions as you like, for I loathe the ancient method which places the lecturer on the pedestal of a mandarin, and forces facts down unwilling throats.’
‘The goods!’ I whispered.
‘Psychology, in brief, is the science which classifies and analyses the phenomena of the human mind. As an old army officer, I regret to say we knew precious little about it before the war. Some of the Staff College men had it as a side-line. Haking, in his somewhat rambling book on Company Training, struck the first intelligent notes on the subject. Colonel Fuller of the “Ox and Bucks” tried to drag it into the arena of military training. Here and there an isolated enthusiast worked out his own pet theories. But, broadly speaking, our army knew nothing about it. The French Army, however, was more progressive. Several French officers had produced excellent books on the subject prior to 1914. And in the French military academies psychology was a term well known to every student. Germany also worked at it, but not so effectively as France. Many of the Russian generals, such as Brussiloff, the Grand Duke, and Alexeieff, were keen students of the science.
‘Why, then, did we know little about it? The answer is this. We are a conservative people. We are mentally lazy. We resent new ideas, mainly because they disturb our happy old ways. Let us admit our faults, for it is the negation of all sound work to cover up errors in military training.
‘Psychology is not so difficult as people think. Professors make it difficult when they ramble off into bewildering scientific phenomena instead of getting down to earth. This game is really a study of what the other fellow is thinking; how his thoughts affect his actions; and the sum total of his intellectual output. You do not require to be a university don to grip its essentials. Common-sense, ordinary intelligence, and organised study will give you the rudiments. And no man has a better opportunity to exploit the science than the army officer. He commands all types, all creeds. In his daily work he is rubbing against the efficient and the inefficient, the alert and the lethargic, the successful and the failure. If you, as future officers, will make it your duty to observe the mental meanderings of your units, you will quickly discover the road to high command. By knowing your men, you can handle them. By classifying and treating them as mere units, you will eventually cause anything from a mutiny to a disaster in face of the enemy.
‘All of you, I hope, will shortly command platoons. You will then have sixty men to rule. You will find your job easy or difficult, according to your ability tactfully to enforce your orders, to create in the minds of your men the belief that you are a more powerful personality, and to get out of all ranks the maximum of work with the minimum of friction. Take an example. When I entered this room I did so in a very alert manner. That was not accidental; it was deliberate. I was determined to impress on you that I was no straggler. Next, I reached this desk, then smiled. Why? To make you feel you were not dealing with a ferocious martinet who uses his rank to enforce his orders and opinions. Thirdly, I said you could smoke. This suggestion smashed any remaining vestige of rank or distinction, so far as this actual lecture is concerned. I came here to get at you.’
‘You’ve got us, sir,’ said Ginger.