That paints the military as a sort of political class, dooming us all! But that’s a perceptive insight, in that in those days those two classes were pretty much all that mattered, as the religious class was falling in influence, and popular sovereignty was still – French Revolution notwithstanding – essentially inconceivable. (And the wars Clausewitz observed while developing his theories were fought to suppress the rise of the influence in Europe of the American Revolution.)

Hopefully, we have some form of adult supervision in the process these days.

I agree, and am not at all surprised that our experience in this regard is so similar.

When you talk about “ability to discern” before “pulling the trigger” – that’s a real key, and a vital precursor to and part of the decision-making process that doesn’t receive enough attention. Thanks for adding that to the mix. I like the metaphor for that: like picking your fights, you must pick your targets – and frame the selection criteria – for decision-making carefully.

Avoiding “trigger-happy” decision-makers, too – that’s a big theme for Drucker – Buffett has talked about it, too.

Thanks, as always, Steve, for stopping by with insightful observations like these!

I never would have guessed that Clausewitz would have been in that corner. What great cocktail party trivia

On the serious side, you made me think about the CEOs and others that I’ve had the opportunity to work with over the years. And, indeed, the track record shows that, given an either/or choice between an effective decision maker and someone who really “knows” the business, the effective decision maker is the way to go.

The files show that high-level executives with great company/product/technical knowledge but ineffective decision skills did not fair well. On the other hand, execs brought in from the outside who were good decision makers succeeded.

There is something about the ability to discern well before “pulling the trigger” that makes these folks very effective. And they weren’t all trigger happy either. Just very, very good marksmen.

Enjoying the series, Jim. . .