If Napoleon Ran Your Business
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What is it about Napoleon Bonaparte that has led scholars and leaders to study his principles and quote his maxims in countless books on management and leadership? His grande armee achieved breakthrough success against all odds, using methods that are startlingly relevant to today’s organizations. He also managed a portfolio of improvement projects that transformed a struggling country with a weak economy into the world’s most powerful empire. Even his ultimate downfall carries great lessons for today’s leaders and managers. This webinar will explore the key principles behind Napoleon's successes, the triggers that led to his downfall, and the lessons to be learned from his demise. Based on Jerry’s international bestseller “Napoleon on Project Management,” the webcast will apply the lessons of one of history’s greatest generals to modern-day project managers and leaders, and will address the following questions: • What lessons in planning and execution can today's project managers and leaders learn from Napoleon's successes and failures? • How can I apply Napoleon’s research, recordkeeping, and organization methods to my own projects for better results? • How can I gain an upper hand by understanding the dynamic between project management and strategic leadership?
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If Napoleon Ran Your Business
- 1. 9/16/2016 Slide: 1 If Napoleon Ran Your Business Jerry Manas March 26, 2016, 12:00 PM EST
- 2. 9/16/2016 Slide: 2 Presenter – Jerry Manas Author of the new book, The Resource Management and Capacity Planning Handbook, and the bestsellers Napoleon on Project Management and Managing the Gray Areas. Senior Research Analyst at Planview Twitter: @jerrymanas
- 3. 9/16/2016 Slide: 3 “There is nothing new in this world except the history you do not know.” ~Harry S. Truman
- 4. 9/16/2016 Slide: 4 Project Management is about overcoming challenges to achieve objectives. Why Napoleon and Project Management? Planning Managing Risks Understanding the terrainLeading People
- 5. 9/16/2016 Slide: 5 • Unparalleled Accomplishments • Legendary Organizational Ability • Well-Documented Principles & Methods Why Napoleon?
- 6. 9/16/2016 Slide: 6 • 5’7” (average height at the time) • “It’ll cost you an arm and a leg.” • Goal: Federation of Countries (EU); End Hereditary Monarchy • Clash of Ideals Let’s Talk About Napoleon
- 8. 9/16/2016 Slide: 8 Over 50 Battles
- 9. 9/16/2016 Slide: 9 Innovations in Artillery and Logistics Canning Light Artillery Organizational Structure
- 11. 9/16/2016 Slide: 11 • Personal Rights • Property Rights One (Simple) Code to Rule Them All
- 13. 9/16/2016 Slide: 13 “A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon.” ~ Napoleon
- 17. 9/16/2016 Slide: 17 Napoleon the Builder
- 18. 9/16/2016 Slide: 18 Napoleon the Diplomat Italy Egypt The Church England
- 19. 9/16/2016 Slide: 19 Napoleon the Emperor Military Threats Finance Reforms Legal Reforms School Reforms Architectural Programs Cultural Reforms
- 20. 9/16/2016 Slide: 20 And I did all this during the equivalent of two U.S. Presidential terms!
- 21. 9/16/2016 Slide: 21 Napoleon Bonaparte… • Innovator • Diplomat • Motivator • Organizer • Strategist • Analyst • Influencer • Leader
- 22. 9/16/2016 Slide: 22 “In this age, in past ages, in any age… Napoleon.” ~The Duke of Wellington
- 23. 9/16/2016 Slide: 23 Napoleon was Dynamite!
- 24. 9/16/2016 Slide: 24 Okay, So He Did A Lot. But How???
- 25. 9/16/2016 Slide: 25 Master of Organization (With No Technology!)
- 26. 9/16/2016 Slide: 26 Napoleon’s Operations Biweekly Status Reports War . Interior . Finance Finance “Dashboard” Price of Wheat per Dept (Min/Max/Avg) Weekly Operational Meetings Needs/Decisions Monthly Fund Allocation Meetings SMEs/Finance in Attendance, Business Cases, Scenarios
- 27. 9/16/2016 Slide: 27 Napoleon Focused on Value (Costs/Benefits) Deliverable 1 Deliverable 2 Deliverable 3 Asset 1 Asset 2 Asset 3
- 28. 9/16/2016 Slide: 28 Some Assets Have Negative Value “To beautify Paris, there is more to be demolished than to be built.” ~Napoleon
- 29. 9/16/2016 Slide: 29 Are we working on the right projects, and are they still valuable? Are we making the best use of our resources? Are we investing wisely in our assets and services? Are we wasting time on non-value activities? Are we aware of the impact of delays on achieving our goals? Are we enabling innovation? Are we executing our plans quickly? What’s our project throughput? In Today’s World, Napoleon would ask:
- 30. 9/16/2016 Slide: 30 • Morning: › Check and sort mail › Review/categorize issues › Hold “Doctor is in” sessions (private and monthly public) • Afternoon: › Review Status Reports › Take actions and/or delegate › Weekly/monthly meetings Napoleon’s Time Management
- 31. 9/16/2016 Slide: 31 The Great Campaigns Ulm/Austerlitz - 1805 375 Miles, 15 Miles/Day, 7 columns across a 100-Mile front • Well trained • Well dressed • Lighter Artillery • Canned foods • Well connected • Well informed • Empowered regiments X X Napoleon’s greatest asset was the ability to adapt to change.
- 32. 9/16/2016 Slide: 32 Documented Principles “Get your principles straight. The rest is a matter of detail.” ~Napoleon
- 33. 9/16/2016 Slide: 33 “To succeed, one must be sometimes very bold, and sometimes very prudent.” ~Napoleon Think Bold, Implement Safely
- 34. 9/16/2016 Slide: 34 “The art of war does not require complicated maneuvers; the simplest are the best, and common sense is fundamental. From which one might wonder how it is generals make blunders; it is because they try to be clever.” ~Napoleon Don’t Get Fancy
- 35. 9/16/2016 Slide: 35 “By beginning everything, we risk finishing nothing.” ~Napoleon Avoid the Temptation to Take on Everything
- 36. 9/16/2016 Slide: 36 “It is better to have a canal ten leagues long every ten years than to wait a century for a hundred- league canal to be completed.” ~Napoleon Aim for Phased Deliverables
- 37. 9/16/2016 Slide: 37 “Think over carefully the great enterprise you are about to carry out; and let me know, before I sign your final orders, your own views as to the best way of carrying it out.” ~Napoleon Engage Your Experts and Staff
- 38. 9/16/2016 Slide: 38 “Messieurs, it is not to convince you of my opinion, but to have yours that I have called you. Tell me your views; I will then see if what you propose to me is better than what I think.” ~Napoleon Engage Stakeholders and Executives
- 39. 9/16/2016 Slide: 39 “It is better to have one bad general than two good ones.” ~Napoleon Be Clear About Who’s Setting the Goals
- 40. 9/16/2016 Slide: 40 “A leader is a dealer in hope.” ~Napoleon Create the Future and Stay Positive
- 41. 9/16/2016 Slide: 41 So what went wrong???
- 42. 9/16/2016 Slide: 42 “The greatest mistake of my career was the interference in Spanish affairs... All my defeats came from this source.” ~Napoleon
- 43. 9/16/2016 Slide: 43 The Spanish Ulcer – 1808-1814 Goya’s Dos de Mayo Charles IV & son (Ferdinand VII) Napoleon’s brother Joseph Murat “calm the revolt?” Civil unrest & dispute: Who should rule? Democracy?
- 44. 9/16/2016 Slide: 44 Lesson 1 Great performers do not always make great leaders. Lesson 2 Understand the terrain. Go and see for yourself. Lesson 3 Don’t assume you can make people embrace something they don’t want to do.
- 46. 9/16/2016 Slide: 46 The Russian Campaign • Largest coalition in history • 20-year weather trends • Contingency plans/Decision Gates • Study of past campaigns • 4 day food rations • Supply lines with canned food • Peace campaign with the Czar
- 48. 9/16/2016 Slide: 48 Lesson 1 Make sure your team is committed, well trained, and prepared. Lesson 2 Nurture effective leaders to keep everyone on board. Lesson 3 Know when to reevaluate the mission and make changes.
- 49. 9/16/2016 Slide: 49 Waterloo Ref: http://carol.nuvox.net/dolphin//waterloo/ Copyright 2000, David Lawrence Early Morning
- 50. 9/16/2016 Slide: 50 No e-mail! No cell phone! Later that day… 3:00pm 6:00pm “A damned near run thing.” - WellingtonRef: http://carol.nuvox.net/dolphin//waterloo/ Copyright 2000, David Lawrence
- 51. 9/16/2016 Slide: 51 Lesson 1 Nurture and retain your best people (and be sure they’re in the right roles). Lesson 2 Never underestimate the impact of delays. Lesson 3 Use all available forms of communication.
- 52. 9/16/2016 Slide: 52 St. Helena (The Lessons-Learned Session)
- 53. 9/16/2016 Slide: 53 “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” ~Mark Twain
- 54. 9/16/2016 Slide: 54 Books by Jerry Manas • Topics: Leadership, Organizational Project & Resource Management, Lessons from History Twitter: @jerrymanas jmanas@planview.com www.planview.com
Editor's Notes
- What do we know about Napoleon? Is what we know correct? Talk about myths and propaganda. There are powerful lessons we can learn from his rise and his fall. He’s dealt with such challenges, and worse, and had amazing success. He also encountered pitfalls, with obvious warning signs we can watch for.
- Unprecedented feats in three areas! Administration, Architecture, Military
- Won against all odds; mostly defensive
- Lighter artillery, invented canning, etc.
- Popular with the people - Election results naming Napoleon First Consul for Life
- Unified France with one civil code (vs. many) preserving the rights of equality; notable in its simplicity and clarity
- His military and scientific expedition to Egypt led to the discovery of the Rosetta stone, opening the door to Egyptian history.
- Created the Legion of Honor medal, still in use today.
- Created national banks to stabilize the economy
- Created the secondary school system, with guidelines and principles for effective learning.
- His Chief Medical Officer invented Triage; the most needy would be served first, regardless of which side they were on.
- Numerous architectural projects, all tied to a strategy; Napoleon was the ultimate program and portfolio manager.
- The ultimate in Stakeholder Management. Napoleon had many diplomatic successes including winning over Italy as a general, winning the respect of the Egyptians, making peace with the church, and even making peace with England for a time via territorial negotiations (England broke the treaty).
- Served as Emperor of most of the European continent, all while building architectural projects, fixing France’s economy, establishing reforms in government and education, and defending France from attack.
- Respected even by his enemies.
- Still relevant today!
- No email, no Excel, no cell phones, no enterprise software solutions
- Balancing Exactitude and Speed
- On simplicity
- A lesson in Focus.
- A lesson in Focus.
- Engagement, not “orders.”
- Engagement, not “orders.”
- Explore ways to provide hope
- Explore ways to provide hope
- Napoleon’s self-admitted biggest mistake. The event that catalyzed his downfall. His first purely offensive military campaign, and based on faulty intelligence.
- Led to a war on multiple fronts
- Taken from a presentation titled “My Kingdom for a Cell Phone.”
- Napoleon died at the age of 51 on May 5th, 1821.