World War II was a humanitarian disaster, but although it was a sad episode in history, there were lessons learned at Strategy level.
World War II showed that speed, agility and mobility are far more efficient then strength, trenches and strongholds strategies that dominated World War I.
After German blitzkrieg in France which led to a desperate evacuation of the Allied forces in Dunkirk, it became clear that England invasion by Germany was imminent.
One of the most notable English generals, Bernard Montgomery, was appointed by the Prime Minister to prepare England defenses of the imminent invasion in 1940.
Instead of requesting the construction of heavily protected bunkers and strongholds, “Monty” requested buses, many buses.
Why?
“Monty” immediately understood and adapted to the new dominating strategy of the war that he witnessed in France a few months earlier.
Strongholds can be avoided by the opponent and when the generals perceive the move of their opponents their stronghold was already surrounded and sieged without access to supplies which leads them to surrender.
For that reason, the British general requested buses, many buses, because he wanted to be 100% mobile, agile and fast by delivering to his main force the ability to move around the country with buses to face the opponent wherever they landed, or in the coast or inland through German paratroopers.
From the General perspective, the coastal defenses should be light and with the only purpose of get some extra time until the main force could move towards the opponent and deliver a decisive blow.
Later in WWII, these speed, agile and mobile strategies were mastered and applied with great efficiency by the U.S. General George S. Patton that it is still today the most famous United States General and Strategist.
Military Strategy overlaps with Business Strategy and we can see today that companies that are more agile and faster to adapt to the market by changing their ways of working and engaging with their customers, tend to be more successful and last longer than companies that stick to their old ways just because it worked in the past.
World War II showed that speed, agility and mobility are far more efficient then strength, trenches and strongholds strategies that dominated World War I.
After German blitzkrieg in France which led to a desperate evacuation of the Allied forces in Dunkirk, it became clear that England invasion by Germany was imminent.
One of the most notable English generals, Bernard Montgomery, was appointed by the Prime Minister to prepare England defenses of the imminent invasion in 1940.
Winston Churchill was surprised by his General demands.
Instead of requesting the construction of heavily protected bunkers and strongholds, “Monty” requested buses, many buses.
“Monty” immediately understood and adapted to the new dominating strategy of the war that he witnessed in France a few months earlier.
Strongholds can be avoided by the opponent and when the generals perceive the move of their opponents their stronghold was already surrounded and sieged without access to supplies which leads them to surrender.
For that reason, the British general requested buses, many buses, because he wanted to be 100% mobile, agile and fast by delivering to his main force the ability to move around the country with buses to face the opponent wherever they landed, or in the coast or inland through German paratroopers.
From the General perspective, the coastal defenses should be light and with the only purpose of get some extra time until the main force could move towards the opponent and deliver a decisive blow.
Later in WWII, these speed, agile and mobile strategies were mastered and applied with great efficiency by the U.S. General George S. Patton that it is still today the most famous United States General and Strategist.
Military Strategy overlaps with Business Strategy and we can see today that companies that are more agile and faster to adapt to the market by changing their ways of working and engaging with their customers, tend to be more successful and last longer than companies that stick to their old ways just because it worked in the past.
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