0:03 A team can have enough people, resources, and even the right strategy and still fail if no one is quite sure who has the final say.
0:13 >> [snorts] [music]
0:16 >> Who are you? And where are you going?
0:22 >> [music]
0:23 >> What do you want?
0:26 >> [music]
0:31 >> Hello and welcome to business lessons from the military. I'm your host Kevin Bemmel and I'm here every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time to talk about military military history, doctrine, and leadership practices and then distill from them lessons we can apply to our businesses and professional practices. So, today I'm talking about the cost of divided command and I'm going to be using an historical example, the Battle of Fort Donelson, during the Civil War here in the United States in February of 1862.
1:07 So, this this idea of command is very, you know, common place in the military, but we don't tend to think of command as being part of the civilian business world and that's because it I think it sounds too directive. But, the the idea of command
1:30 >> [snorts]
1:30 >> it is is not that the commander is always ordering people about, although at times he may be. It's that the the commander, the commanding officer, has the ultimate responsibility for making the decisions that need to be made and the ultimate ultimate responsibility for the results of those decisions. There's a unity there that I think sometimes is lost in business, especially in businesses that
2:06 adopt a collaborative form of operations. And so, I want to talk about this idea of divided command, and I'm going to be doing so again in in the context of what took place in at the Battle of Fort Donaldson. So, while it generally speaking people have heard about General Ulysses S. Grant, he was of course the great Union General who finally won the war for the Union. I
2:42 think less is known about the Confederate command, and especially the breakdown among multiple commanders who who were involved in the Fort Donaldson situation. And so, we're going to I'm going to look at that as I go through five thoughts or five misconceptions about divided command. So, the first one is having someone in charge means you have unity of command. Right? So, is there the question is is there a
3:17 difference between having a senior person or a senior person on the scene and having someone who actually commands? That's really getting to the heart of this issue. So, an organizational chart can identify who's senior without establishing who has the practical authority to make decisions. So, unity unity of command requires more than rank. People have to understand who who who advises, and who executes. So,
3:55 a friend of mine used to work for a company where a the senior person at the company was this CEO who, at least putatively, had the authority to make decisions and the responsibility for their execution. But, the reality was he was such a a weak and I would argue poor leader that [snorts] my friend, in many ways, was the the the CEO for the company. He was always the
4:32 one um gathering it input from other people on the team and then crafting the decision in a way that everyone would buy into it and there would be unity of effort. And and
4:50 >> [clears throat]
4:51 >> this is while it worked for a while, it's not a good way for a company to operate um because eventually the CEO is going to want to assert his authority. And so, at the Battle of Fort Donelson, um Ulysses S. Grant was in charge of the Union forces and Fort Donelson protected the Cumberland River, which was the approach toward Nashville in Tennessee. The Confederate leadership included Brigadier Generals uh John B.
5:27 Floyd, Gideon Pillow, Simon Bolivar Buckner, and Bushrod Johnson. So, you had four uh at least, you know, seeming commanders all of the same rank, Brigadier General. So, Pillow had been in command before Floyd. Uh the senior officer who arrived on February 13th and assumed overall command. So, in theory, Gideon Pillow was the senior commander to the other three brigadier generals. Floyd, however, had limited military
6:04 experience, and so he deferred substantially uh to Pillow and to Buckner, who had greater field experience than he did. So, there was technically a commander, uh um Floyd,
6:21 >> [clears throat]
6:21 >> excuse me, but in reality, command was divided among three three of the four brigadier generals. So,
6:33 >> [clears throat]
6:34 >> you can have a same situation in in a company. So, a company has a CEO, it has a COO, has a department head, and it has a project manager. So, everyone has authority over something, uh but
6:49 >> [clears throat]
6:50 >> when an urgent decision is needed across departmental lines, who's going to decide? So, the problem remains invisible until the leaders disagree, right? And so,
7:06 >> [clears throat]
7:07 >> you know, it may be argued, "Well, the [snorts] most the person next most senior to the departmental head uh to the departmental head should be making the decision, which would seem to be the COO." On the other hand, if it's a matter affecting strategy, that may be something that the CEO needs to decide. All of this needs to be worked out and understood before decisions need to be made. Otherwise, it's likely to cause confusion and gridlock at a decisive moment, right?
7:42 So, the the open question then becomes who has final decision authority. All right, so that's that's number one, misconception number one. Having someone in charge means you have unity of command, not necessarily. Misconception number two, good leaders will work out their differences, right? So, while ideally that would be the case, practically strong leaders disagree often times. And what happens when you have strong leaders who are disagreeing and who
8:18 can't come to some kind of compromise or some kind of agreement when a decision needs to be made, right? So, healthy disagreement is a good thing and it can improve a decision before it's made. But, disagreement becomes dangerous when it prevents a sound decision from being made and when it prevent it prevents that decision having been made from being properly executed. So, at Fort Donaldson,
8:53 >> [snorts]
8:53 >> uh on February 15th, Grant's forces were threatening to surround the Confederate position and the Confederate commanders agreed on a breakout plan designed to open the roads towards Nashville so they could escape, right? And their attack succeeded in pushing the Union forces back and opening a potential escape route. Um but then, Pillow ordered troops back into their entrenchments instead of taking advantage of this opening. Buckner, on the other hand, disagreed.
9:29 So, then Floyd became involved and the the commanders started debating what should happen next. So, the confusion and indecision among the Confederate commanders ended up causing a Confederate defeat. Right? So, at the crucial moment, right? The even though ostensibly they were all good leaders, they couldn't come to a decision what to do. And as you'll see in a few minutes, this this this is what
10:04 led to Grant being able to overcome his initial his initial setbacks. So, in business, you can have a situation where the sales wants lower prices cuz they can make more sales. Finance says the margins are already too thin, so we can't lower prices. Operations say the proposed delivery schedule is impossible. It's you know, especially in light of perhaps a lower profit margin. Right? Marketing has already announced the offer, right? So, everyone has
10:40 legitimate concerns, but what is going to be done? Right? And and all of these departments are battling it out and you know, hopefully cooler heads would prevail, but that they all have valid points. Right? So, lowers lower prices generally mean higher sales, right? But there is a point at which prices are so low that the margins are and the margins become so thin that now the company puts itself in jeopardy because it it it it starts burning through cash reserves or it can't
11:16 accumulate cash reserves. And so, if there's a problem
11:21 >> [snorts]
11:21 >> at the company, it doesn't have the cash to see it through, etc. etc. right? And so,
11:27 >> [clears throat]
11:28 >> here the problem isn't the disagreement because everybody has a valid point. The problem is at the moment of execution, there isn't any way to resolve the disagreement without unity of command there to say, "Okay, I've heard everything that you have to say. Here's what we're going to do, right?" So, encourage disagreement before the decision, but require alignment after it, okay? Don't rely on the idea that good leaders will work out their differences.
12:03 Okay, number three.
12:05 >> [clears throat and cough]
12:06 >> And third misconception, everyone can have authority in his own area. I mean, [snorts] that sounds true. It sounds correct. And this one's kind of deceptive because in fact, if we're talking about department heads, yeah, they can have authority in their own area. They need to have authority in their own area to run their department successfully. But, what happens when a decision affects several departments simultaneously? So, dividing responsibility works well
12:42 for routine decisions and routine operations, but it works poorly when an important decision crosses departmental boundaries and now there has to be a more unified um a more unified decision made.
13:02 >> [clears throat and cough]
13:02 >> So, in the case of the Battle of Fort Donelson, so
13:07 >> [clears throat]
13:08 >> Pillow controlled forces conducting much of the breakout, but Buckner commanded another major portion of the Confederate line, and Floyd held overall command. So, when Pillow ordered Buckner back to the entrenchments. Buckner questioned initially questioned the decision, but then he ultimately complied. But then along came Floyd onto the scene and he's and he's questioning but he's like, "Why are you withdrawing, right?" And and Buckner is like, "Well,
13:44 you know, Pillow ordered me to withdraw, all right?" So there was a great [clears throat] deal of confusion at a time where there needed to be clarity and action. And so the the opportunity created by the morning's fighting that opened up that initial path toward Nashville started disappearing while the senior commanders tried to determine what the army should actually do. And [snorts] you can see the same thing happening in a business. So imagine that there's a customer, maybe it's a large customer, and they're
14:20 demanding a substantial change, right? Well, sales says yes because it wants to maintain the account. Or maybe it's a potential new customer, they want to get the new customer, right? Operations says no because production just can't accommodate the the the the change without maybe some major retooling or, you know, shifting employees or maybe hiring new people. Finance says, "Well, maybe like if the customer wants to pay more, it may make sense to do it,
14:56 right?" And legal says, "Well, not under the existing contract. We we would have to renegotiate the contract, right?" So again, all like with the previous misconception, all four departments are correct within their own responsibilities, right? But the company still has to make one decision and the decision is, you know, do we take this customer with this substantial change that they want in order to do business with us or in order to continue doing business with us, right? So, when
15:32 responsibilities overlap, there has to be a decision owner rather than merely just assigning responsibilities. And so, what who is going to be the decision maker? Who is going to be the commander in that situation? Okay, let's take a quick break.
15:58 >> When life brings unexpected changes, managing inherited property shouldn't add to your stress. Magnum Properties specializes in probate and trust real estate management. We handle the complexities while you focus on what matters most. From property maintenance to tenant relations, from legal compliance to maximizing value, we're your trusted partner through every step. Magnum Properties Inc., turning property challenges into peace of mind. Call us today at 213-264-4396
16:35 or visit magnumprops.com.
16:40 >> Okay, so misconception number four. A good opportunity will still be there once we reach agreement, right? So, I I've talked about this in uh I think on on um people making money a couple a couple of weeks ago. Uh what is the cost of delayed decision-making, right? Uh sometimes not making a decision becomes the decision, right? So, some decisions are
17:15 reversible, uh but opportunities often times are not. They They're They're available. If they're not grabbed, they disappear, right? So, an organization can become so concerned uh with reaching internal agreement that the external environment changes while people are still discussing what to do. So, at Fort Donelson, the Confederate breakout initially succeeded. They had a path to get to Nashville.
17:50 But, instead of immediately exploiting this opportunity, the troops returned to their original positions. And Grant realized
18:02 >> [laughter]
18:03 >> Wow. You know, they had the They could have broken through and escaped, but they went back, and so he was able to regroup. And he counterattacked. And he recovered the lost ground and gained additional um positions that then prevented the Confederates from having any kind of effective escape route. And so, the opportunity was lost while confusion reigned reigned among the the
18:38 among um uh Floyd and um Pillow and Buckner. Um And And And as a result, um as as you'll see in a moment, uh the Confederates lost the Battle of Fort Donelson. So, in business, a company could identify a target for acquisition that maybe fits in very well with how the company is working and how it need how it wants to expand, right? Management wants it, uh but finance wants additional analysis, legal
19:15 identifies, you know, certain concerns, right? And the board wants another meeting to discuss all these things. Meanwhile, another buyer makes an offer, and that offer gets accepted. And so, while the one company is, you know, trying to figure out how they're going to come to agreement on taking advantage of the opportunity, the opportunity disappears, right? And so, the the perfect becomes the enemy of the good. So, sometimes a reasonably good decision exercised
19:52 expeditiously is a much better path than a very good decision that's delayed. Okay, set aside perfect decisions, which in general just don't exist, right? So, the the the business lesson is the value of decision includes the value of making it on time. So, we need to ask not only what is the right decision, but also by when does this decision need to be made so that the opportunity is likely to still be
20:28 there. Right? So, that's that's um misconception number four. A good opportunity will be there once we reach a decision. No, often times that is not the case. And then finally, misconception number five, responsibility can be sorted out later, right? So, when something goes wrong, who owns the result? That's the central question there, right? So, one of the most damaging consequences of divided command is divided accountability. So, when
21:03 several people possess overlapping authority, failure can produce an argument over who was actually and ultimately responsible. So, during the night of February 15th through 16th, the Confederate commanders faced the possibility of surrender. The escape route to Nashville had been closed by Grant, taking advantage of the Confederates' confusion and divided command. And and now they faced essentially disaster. So,
21:40 Floyd, who was in overall command, he did not want to personally surrender, and so he transferred command to Pillow. Pillow immediately turned and transferred it to Buckner, and Buckner was left holding the bag. And so, he had to negotiate with Grant, and Grant demanded immediate and unconditional surrender, and Buckner had no choice but to accept. And in fact, um when you know, reading the US Army's official history of this this this
22:18 really kind of extraordinary sequence of of Floyd passing to Pillow and Pillow passing to Buckner, and Buckner seeking terms from Grant, it it shows that the disorganization and the unwillingness to take responsibility for the debacle really was what was driving the Confederate forces. And so, what had started out uh so well just crumbled um in in in the face of the arguments that ensued. So,
22:54 in business, when a project succeeds, of course, everybody Oh, we did it, right? We we were victorious. But, when it fails, that's when you start seeing the uh jockeying to escape responsibility, right? So, sales says it was operations, finance says it was legal, uh you know, but but sales promoted it. Well, finance didn't approve the budget. Well, management changed the plan and didn't, you know, notify us in time, right? That's a warning sign that there is not
23:29 unity of command at your company, okay? And that the authority to make decisions and the accountability for those decisions are not traveling together when they have to. I know this was one of the most frustrating things that I encountered early in my professional life. I was working as a law clerk for an attorney, and I had responsibilities for certain things, but I had no authority
24:04 to actually get them done. When responsibility and authority are separated, it causes a lot of dysfunction within an organization. And so, if someone is accountable for an for a for an outcome, that person needs to have the authority to influence it and see that it happens or not. That's the only way they really can be held responsible for the results. It's unjust to say to someone who did not have the authority to bring something about, say,
24:39 "Well, you're responsible for it not coming about." Well, I couldn't. I didn't have the authority to do so, right? So, if someone has final authority, that person must also own the consequences of what what ends up happening, right? So, again, responsibly can be sorted out later? Nope. Nope. Almost for sure going to end up in some kind of dispute. So, some closing thoughts. Fort Donelson provides a particularly useful business lesson because the Confederate forces
25:16 were not simply overwhelmed without an opportunity to act. So, on February 15th, they created an opportunity to escape and then lost it amid command confusion and indecision.
25:32 >> [snorts]
25:32 >> Grant was able to exploit the hesitation. He closed the escape route and as a result, much of the Confederate garrison had to surrender. And it was a loss of manpower that the Confederacy could ill afford to lose. So, the business principle is straightforward. Debate can be divided. Expertise can be divided. Responsibilities can be divided. But command cannot be divided at the moment
26:09 a decision has to be made. So, before an initiative begins, answer three important questions. I alluded to them at the beginning. Who recommends? Who decides? Who is accountable? The latter two need to be the same person, okay? So, if everyone knows the answer to those questions, then disagreements almost always will make the organization stronger. But if nobody knows them, then
26:44 disagreement is likely to bring the organization to a halt and opportunities will be lost and mistakes will be made. So, where where is this an issue in your organization? Right? Now, by the way, it doesn't necessarily have to happen as part of the overall organizational plan, okay? That that is certainly a problem, but each department has its organizational structure. And
27:20 does does everybody understand that the department head has both the ultimate decision-making authority within the department and also the ultimate responsibility, or has that departmental head abdicated that role, and there's actually someone else in the department who really holds the power, and some people kind of know it, other people don't, it's very unclear, and it leads to a lot of dissension within within that particular department. So, I'd be curious to know if if some of these dynamics are going
27:55 on at your company, and if so, how they are affecting the company's ability to operate. Okay, so, schedule of shows during the week, all of these are Pacific time. Trusts and Estates weekly, 10:00 a.m. Mondays. Uh business lessons from the military, like like today, Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. People making money, Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m. And then every other Thursday at 5:00 p.m. Join me at Jigger's Place for a cocktail and a schmooze, and we'll talk about all those things that make
28:30 life worth living, like books and movies and relationships and ideas. And so, I wish you Thank you I think first of all, thank you very much for joining me. Uh if you have a friend or colleague, maybe they're having some uh disunity of command, maybe send them a link to this episode and some of the thoughts here may help them out. I'd also love to have the opportunity to gain them as a subscriber. If you're watching this on YouTube, I I I would appreciate if you would subscribe. Same with Spotify and
29:05 Apple Podcasts, if you'll follow the show, I would really appreciate that. And so that just leaves me to thank you again for joining me today and wish you a wonderful rest of the day. Signing off as I always do, Marie Darling, you are my bell. Courage at all times, my friends.