Wounded Leaders: How Their Damaged Past Affects Your Future. Allan Bonner

a map. The idea of ordinary soldiers being entrusted with all this valuable information at that time was ground-breaking and unorthodox management. But egalitarianism worked. Vimy Ridge was taken. Command and control has its place, but the lesson of history is that its utility and value is not universal.

      Another military lesson involves dealing with errors. Missteps abound in military history. Many can be blamed on the “fog of war”, because when the action is in progress, it is difficult for everyone, including the commander, to know exactly what is going on. Much effort is expended to counter the fog of war, which commanders know will prevail during battle. Commanders know that a “hot wash-up”, or debriefing and discussion, after the encounter will reveal errors and omissions. They not only expect these, but schedule formal “appreciations” before the event to gain all possible information, and follow up with debriefings to determine lessons learned.

      I don’t know if any business corporations subscribe to the military concept of the fog of war. I’ve never heard it mentioned during all the years I have worked with and coached senior executives. Perhaps they should remember that they will occasionally be in thick fog.

      In the case of mergers and acquisitions the analogy might be that CEOs and others responsible for the venture are yelling “charge!” behind the lines, ignoring the significance of new technology, techniques, markets and shifting trends. They are clinging slavishly to missions and plans, even if reports back from the field are telling them they need to change tactics. CEOs need to take the longer view-as do good military commanders-that in all probability things will not go as planned. Circumstances and conditions can change and when they do, tactics need to be adjusted even if the overall strategy remains.