This document summarizes Michael Netzley's presentation on Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia. Some key points: - In 1812, Napoleon led the Grande Armee of 680,000 French soldiers into Russia to defeat the Russian army of 200,000 men. - After reaching Moscow in September, the Russians had abandoned the city and set it ablaze. Napoleon was forced to retreat in October with only 100,000 surviving soldiers. - On the march back to France, the French army suffered tremendously from exposure to the early winter as well as starvation. This disastrous campaign marked the beginning of Napoleon's decline in power.

1. FACILITATOR
Michael Netzley, PhD
Academic Director, SMU ExD
17 October 2014
DAY 1

2. Who Can Tell Me…

3. Anything About Napoleon’s March on
Russia in 1814?
• French Invasion of Russia: 24 June – 14
December, 1812
• 680,000 soldiers in the Grande Armee;
200,000 Russian soldiers
• Reached Moscow on Sept 14 and exited on
Oct 19 with only 100,000 troops
• Battlefield death, wounded, disease and
desertion were reasons for losses
• During the return, exposure during an early
winter and starvation added to the toll
• Failure was the beginning of Napoleon’s end
Michael
Netzley,
Phd.
2014

4. Brutal elegance of Napoleon’s ill-fated march on Russia

5. Michael
Netzley,
Phd.
2014

6. About The Prof
Michael Netzley

7. • Academic Director, SMU Executive Development
• In Asia and SMU faculty since 2002
• Daddy with 3 daughters & 1 son
• 2011 Champion’s Award, Innovative Course
Design and Delivery
• 2010 & 2011 Research Fellow, Society for New
Communication Research
• Visiting positions in Argentina, Berlin, Finland, Slovenia,
and Japan
• Key clients include Unilever, IBM, IHG, BNP Paribas,
Singapore Airlines, TCS, 3M, UOB, Singapore’s MFA &
MoE, Singhgealth, Raffles Medical, Schneider Electric,
Sumitomo Chemical and Infineon.
• PhD, University of Minnesota

8. How We Get It
Wrong

9. Michael
Netzley,
Phd.
2014

10. Can be boring
and easy to re-interpret
or
dismiss.
Michael
Netzley,
Phd.
2014

11. • Napoleon took power in 1799
• He then earned several military victories giving him nearly complete control over most of
Europe
• Following a dispute, Napoleon decided it was time to teach Alexander of Russia a lesson
• French Invasion of Russia: 24 June – 14 December, 1812
• 680,000 soldiers in the Grande Armee; 200,000 Russian soldiers
• Initially, Napoleon’s march into Russia was largely uncontested, until just outside of
Moscow at the city of Borodino
• Reached Moscow and exited on October 19 with only 100,000 troops
• By then the Russians had fled the city, left it burning, and had taken most of the food
with them
• Up to this point, battlefield death, wounded, disease and desertion were why Napoleon’s
army was much smaller in size.
• With no spoils of war available, Napoleon decided to leave Russia and return to France
on Sept. 14
• During the return, exposure to an early winter and starvation added to the death toll
• This ill-fated march on Moscow marked the beginning of Napoleon’s end
Michael
Netzley,
Phd.
2014

13. 2.6
2.4
2.2
2
1.8
Scissors
Western
Roll
Straddle
Fosbury
Flop
1900
1920
1940
1960
1980
Michael
Netzley,
Phd.
2014
Source: Pascale

15. Visual data reveals the source of a disease
• Lesson 1: Place data in the
appropriate context
• Lesson 2: Enable meaningful
comparisons
• Lesson 3: Consider alternative
explanations and contrary cases
Michael
Netzley,
Phd.
2014

17. Michael
Netzley,
Phd.
2014

18. Pa#ern
Recogni-on

20. How to better drive comparison of specific data points
When to Use Tables
• Total data points are fewer than
20-25
• Need to make specific
comparisons of specific numbers
• Be sure to use interpreting titles:
“Data Reveals Increased
Economic Growth”
• Forget the fancy formatting and
focus on making the presentation
clear and unambiguous
When to Use Graphs & Charts
• When you have more than 25
data points
• Want to show comparisons
between groups or categories
(graphs)
• When you want to compare
trends across time (chart)
• Again, focus on precision of
presentation and no need to get
fancy

21. Data Integrity

23. Look at how exaggerated the presentation is when compared to the facts
Federal
Law:
mandated
a
53%
increase
in
fuel
economy
in
1978,
from
18
miles
per
gallon
to
27.5
miles
per
gallon
by
1985.
Graphic
Display:
presents
this
as
a
783%
increase
by
starCng
with
a
line
.6
inches
long
and
increasing
to
a
line
5.3
inches
long.

24. When Poor Data Presentation Costs Lives

28. Here the vertical axis emphasizes risk (rather than event)

29. For Fun

31. Source: http://www.simon-law.com/archives/1274

32. Best Resources

34. Michael
Netzley,
Phd.
2014

35. Credit for the ideas in this presentation must be
given to Prof. Edward Tufte and you can read more
about his work at http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/