On Waterloo 200 anniversary, the point of this blog is that you need a clear strategy, with a plan and both army leaders Wellington and Napoleon had one. Both were previously incredibly successful.

1. Pitch up and fight – why do I need a Plan!
Waterloo?
Posted by Peter on June 5, 2015 in Blog
It’s the 200th anniversary of Waterloo this year on June 18th. A celebration of a great victory
for the British, and a disaster for Napoleon. In fact for the thousands who died it was a horror.
The victory was because Wellington had a clear strategy, adapted it; he had some luck and
was in the heart of the battle.
The point of this blog is that you need a clear strategy, with a plan and both army leaders
Wellington and Napoleon had one. Both were previously incredibly successful. On the day
Napoleon lost. It is debatable what happened, from what I read; Wellington held the higher
ground, with many of his troops largely hidden over the ridge. And was supported by the
Prussians too in this position whilst the French and Napoleon always optimistic attackers
with cannon could not breach this position.
Nothing
Wellington stayed among his soldiers and clearly knew from his strategy and plan right down
to every soldier’s actions, what was going on. I heard someone the other day refer to the
“strategy” for their business as if it was something once completed, to be left to a distant
group of sages whilst the workers and expert agencies got on with the business in hand. Can
you imagine Wellington doing that? Napoleon was certainly at fault, in my view for staying
behind the lines and not seeing what was going on with the fighting. Plus very often, at
Dorset Business Angels where we get people pitching for money, or with companies where I
help with marketing, there is actually “nothing”. By this I mean, no appropriate guide fit for
purpose to tell the team what to do to make money. Either a business plan if it is for the
whole thing, or a product plan if it is for a specific item or service.
B&Q
I used to be incredibly impetuous when I got stuff back from DIY shops and smash open the
boxes. Then wonder why the legs or items did not fit together properly. I learnt my lesson

2. and now do what it says in the instruction manual. I have a cup of tea and read the manual. A
few times!
Do you have an instruction manual for your task – a plan? And you probably need to rewrite
it weekly, and help with the “fighting” not just the thinking to make it work.
Peter