Phebe Novakovic
the CEO of General Dynamics
Before a few days ago, I’d never heard of Phebe Novakovic
Phebe Novakovic is the CEO of General Dynamics, the only company in the U.S. that makes the metal bodies for the MK-80 bomb series
one of the primary aerial munitions Israel has used to bomb Gaza
The 2,000-pound MK-84/BLU-109 bomb they manufacture is notorious for the damage it creates, and can not be used in densely-populated urban areas without causing massive civilian casualties
The explosion of a 2,000-pound bomb means instant death for people within 100 feet, with lethal fragments extending for up to 1,200 feet
Sunday night, Israel dropped seven 2,000-pound bombs on an encampment of makeshift shelters just north of Rafah
an area which Israel had recently declared a safe zone, killing 45 people, many of them small children
I found Phebe Novakovic googling who made these bombs
The information on General Dynamics was included in an article called “companies profiting from the Gaza Genocide” compiled by a Quaker social-justice organization
Next I googled
“who is the CEO of General Dynamics”
That’s how I first learned the name Phebe Novakovic
There’s a video interview with Phebe Novakovic on youtube where she speaks to the opportunities women have today to be chief executive officers
The video gets it title from a soundbite of Phebe novakovic’s from the interview: “YOU JUST CAN’T GIVE UP”
The video begins with the interviewer asking:
What do you advise young women who want to be a CEO about the best way to be a CEO?
Phebe responds
So I think there are more opportunities for women than there certainly were in the late 70s when I entered the workplace. And that is throughout the food chain
I tell — whether it’s young women or young men — if you want to do well in this world, be part of a team, serve your team well, and do the job in front of you as best as you possibly can
And in functional organizations the rest takes care of itself. In a dysfunctional organization, all bets are off. Get out of it
The interviewer then asks
What would be the skill set that a CEO really needs to be successful in today’s environment ?
Phebe Novakovic responds:
So I think a good leader needs fundamentally good character. Good character is required. I think a smattering of wholesome capabilities, whether it’s intellect or finance or the ability to think strategically or solve complex problems. All those things are really important.
And frankly perseverance. I mean sometimes you just have to never never stop. Never quit. Never give up.
*
I imagine Tilda Swinton could play Phebe Novakovic in a movie
And Donald Sutherland could play her husband David Morrison
who was, until recently, Boeing’s chief lobbyist
In Washington he successfully lobbied for airline de-regulation
Now he’s retired and studying divinity at the Princeton Theological Seminary
Two whistleblowers at Boeing have died
A Fortune article on Phebe Novakovic says she is not lacking in wit or charm
And according to the same reporting, she joined the CIA in 1983
She was a spy, and so was her first husband
I thought of the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith
*
Last night I re-read Mother Courage and her Children
Berolt Brecht’s 1939 play that conceives of war as a continuation of business by any means necessary
Mother Courage is the play's primary small businesswoman, parasitically living off of the war with her canteen wagon. She adopts cynicism in the face of the horrors of war.
As cynical as she is, though, Mother Courage is barely getting by. She loses all her children to the war. The lesson is that big profits are not made by little people.
Mother Courage is not making big profits.
In 2023, Phebe Novakovic
made 22 million
500 and 82 thousand
700 and 72 dollars in total compensation from General Dynamics
salaries and bonuses
Her net worth is 450 million
Last year
She was number 29 on Forbes list of
POWER WOMEN
And this year she was number 76 on Forbes list of
AMERICA’S SELF-MADE WOMEN
Berolt Brecht wrote a lot about how we might use narrative to expose the structure of social forces
He didn’t think telling an emotional story of suffering was going to help change the conditions that create horrors and suffering
He favored estrangement over sympathy
He didn’t want his audiences to feel the resolve of catharsis, or to get swept up in the story
He thought critical engagement was best inspired by techniques like breaking the fourth wall, ironic subtext, and comic distancing
I read something today
someone wrote that that witnessing these atrocities ripped a hole in their reality and they’ve found god
I don’t criticize any expressions of grief
I’m not sure how to act in this moment but I was skeptical today of offering you anything beautiful or that strove for transcendence
So with that in mind
Can I get a volunteer from the audience?
And you can google on your phone Phebe Novakovic, so you can have a mental image of her for this next part
[Together with the volunteer, we perform the following script]
EXT. AMERICANA HOTEL - DAY
WAR ZONE. BLACKENED SKY.
Through the madness, we see a flash of a couple sitting at the hotel bar. Tense smiles. Mojitos.
Phebe Novakovic: I told you to wait for my signal, you didn't wait for my signal.
Husband: Well, I improvised.
Phebe Novakovic: You deviated from the plan.
Husband: The plan was flawed.
Phebe Novakovic: The plan was not flawed.
Husband: Anal.
Phebe Novakovic: *Organized.*
Husband: Phebe, 90% of this job is instinct.
Phebe Novakovic: Well, your instinct set off *every* alarm in the building!
Husband: My instinct got the job done. It may not have been the Phebe show...
Phebe Novakovic: No, it was the David show: it was half-assed. Like Christmas, like our anniversary, like the time you forgot to bring my mother's birthday present.
Husband: Your *fake* mother's birthday present.
Phebe Novakovic: The point is, you are *always* the first to break team.
Husband: You don't want a team, you want a servant for hire.
Phebe Novakovic: I want someone I can count on.
Husband: Careful, Phebe. I can push the button any time I like.
Phebe Novakovic: Baby, you couldn't find the button with both hands and a map.
Husband: Last warning.
Phebe Novakovic: Chickenshit
Husband: Pussy
Phebe Novakovic: You have no idea what I’m capable of
Husband: Well, back at ya, sweetheart
Phebe Novakovic: You ever have trouble sleeping after?
Husband: No.
Phebe Novakovic: Me neither.1
Donate to a family through
Operation Olive Branch’s
mutual aid index and Gaza eSims.
—
1 This dialogue is from Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005).
A version of this text was performed at Honeys Brooklyn 5/28 and Addison Pest Control 5/30.
