Military strategies for better resource planning—Jerry Manas
Ten proven military strategies for better resource planning
Custer’s Last Stand, otherwise known as the Battle of the Little Bighorn, has almost become synonymous with failure. The year was 1876, and Custer was part of an army campaign to force Native American tribes off the gold-rich lands in South Dakota’s Black Hills.
He’d been warned that the territory was well defended by thousands of Sioux and Cheyenne Indians (as they were called at the time, thanks to the early European settlers in the New World mistakenly believing they were in India). Instead of planning a surprise attack or waiting for reinforcements as he was ordered, he decided to charge full speed ahead with all his troops toward the Little Bighorn River, in what is now Montana. As could be expected, they were easily defeated, with Custer and all 265 men in his regiment losing their lives, save for a sole half-Indian scout.
What can we learn from this about resource management? On the surface, the failure lesson seems obvious: Don’t go fool-heartedly into a sure failure where you’re grossly understaffed and all the odds are against you (a mistake organizations seem to make on a regular basis). But as we dig deeper, there’s more to this story.
Author: Jerry Manas
Review status: N/A
