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“Grant would always, always press on — turning back was not an option for him”

Reminds me of Winston Churchill – “Never Give Up, Never Give Up, Never Give Up”

“The genius of Grant’s command style lay in its simplicity.”
I rest my case :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at July 18, 2006 5:06 PM

My favorite Grant quote -- which I used in a presentation urging companies to take affirmative action to enforce their patents instead of just sitting on them -- is: "The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike at him as hard as you can and as often as you can, and keep moving on." Pretty much sums the guy up.

Posted by Richard Cauley at July 18, 2006 6:45 PM

I think Grant's orders to his Generals are masterpieces of succinct strategic direction. The examples in his Memoirs show simple goals clearly identified and with supporting information about what others are doing. Giving a couple of pages direction to Sherman to command tens of thousands of men over many months is a reminder to me to keep it simple and to use the skills of divisional managers to look after the execution.

He is an inspiration.

Posted by Gary Arcus at July 18, 2006 10:28 PM

I was just wondering with your love of military leaders - what do you think they would feel about the world today....and what would they be doing differently?

Posted by Anna Farmery at July 19, 2006 2:35 AM

Anna, I am no lover of military leaders. But it seems we've done a more thorough job of analyzing the important ones than "we" "management gurus" have done with business leaders. For instance, mostt of the "study" of Welch is simplistic hagiography. The Grant bios are far more balanced, pointing out flaws as well as strengths.

In general I consider good biography--generals, scientists, determined change agents, and political leaders--a primary source of management instruction.

Posted by tom peters at July 19, 2006 8:16 AM

Richard Cauley: Wonderful!! Source of the quote??

Posted by tom peters at July 19, 2006 8:18 AM

I love the part talking about ordinary soldiers just greeting him - no airs and graces. Leadership isn't always humble (heck a strong sense of self belief is crucial) but that doesn't have to cross over into the way you deal with people on a day to day basis (especially when those people are key to your success!)

Posted by PaulH at July 19, 2006 8:39 AM

In answer to Tom's question about the source of the Grant quote, I found it online [and it is quoted a lot of places, including the CIA website and the Congressional Record!]. What I was looking for was a supplement to slides in a presentation I was doing where I had quoted from Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" to illustrate the attitude companies should have about their intellectual property assets. I liked the Grant quote because it made the point that when there is no other way to protect your intellectual property, you may have to sue someone -- the point I was making was that, once you decide to do something about this kind of theft, you need to just DO it!

In terms of the source, I have not found a printed source, but the story is that one of Grant's officers asked for his reaction to Jomini's "The Art of War" and this was his reaction.

Posted by Richard Cauley at July 19, 2006 4:00 PM

Tom, having just finished reading "Grant Takes Command" by Bruce Catton, I'm curious, which of the Grant bio's have you read this summer?

Posted by Dave at July 19, 2006 4:11 PM