Recently I listened to a Great Courses lecture series entitled “History’s Great Military Blunders and the Lessons They Teach” by Dr. Gregory S. Aldrete. The professor examined about 20 battles from ancient times to World War II, and included Napoleon’s March on Moscow, Custer’s Last Stand, the raid on Dieppe, and the Battle of the Crater.
At the end of the course he summed up what could go wrong. The four failures he cited are applicable to many areas besides battles. Here they are:
Failures in planning. Includes failure to define objectives and failure to pay attention to intelligence and the strengths of the enemy.
Failures in leadership. Includes incompetence, working above one’s ability, and inability to work with other leaders.
Failures in execution. Includes such problems as splitting one’s forces, moving too early or too late, and not knowing when to cut one’s losses. Reinforcing failure is a common theme.
Failures to adapt. Change occurs, and a leader must be ready to adjust to meet those changes.
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