Napoleon on Project Management

I was given a great book the other day: Napoleon on Project Management.  I read it over the weekend.  Jerry Manas, the author has some very interesting things to say about how Napoleon conducted his campaigns and what modern day business leaders can learn from him.

Mr. Manas has identified Napoleon’s Six Winning Principles:

Exactitude – awareness, research and continuous planning
Speed – reducing resistance, increasing urgency and providing focus
Flexibility – building teams that are adaptable, empowered and unified
Simplicity – clear simple objectives, messages and processes
Character – integrity, calmness and responsibility
Moral Force – providing order, purpose recognition and rewards

Mr. Manas says “these principles work together and feed off one another like interlocking gears.  A lack of any one of them will impede success”.

Execution is one of the secrets identified in my book 4 Secrets of High Performing Organizations.  Mr. Manas (who also has an excellent blog) provides some very good information on execution in Napoleon on Project Management.

After explaining Napoleon's six principles, Mr. Manas makes a very important point. “We need to keep in mind, however, that even being well versed in all six principles is not a guarantee of success.  Knowledge of principles is just theory.  To be truly successful, we must use the principles”. 

I couldn’t agree more.  I close all of my keynotes speeches with the quote “knowing is not enough”.  I challenge my audiences to take the information and knowledge I have shared with them and to put it to use.  Mr. Manas makes the same point – and he is right.

I enjoyed this book.  I read a lot of history, but not military history.  To me, Napoleon was always “that little guy with his hand in his coat who got exiled to Corsica”.  Reading the book, I learned something about Napoleon and how he conducted his campaigns, as well as what Mr. Manas has to say about project management in today’s world -- so it was a "twofer" for me.

Mr. Manas closes the book with a chapter entitled “The Four Critical Warning Signs”.   He says “these warning signs serve as triggers to remind us that we may need to take some action to stay on course”.  The four warning signs are:

Power – leading to separation, self righteousness, and impatience.
Overzealousness – leading to grandiose ideas, obsession and implusiveness
Scarcity of effective leaders – leading to disorder, mistrust and micromanagement.
Unbalanced Lifestyle – leading to burnout, loss of composure and health problems.

I like the way the book is organized too.  Mr. Manas has done a nice job of summarizing his points.  Each chapter ends with a brief section entitled “Marching Orders” – sort of like Cliff Notes embedded right in the book.

In short, Napoleon on Project Management dispenses common sense advice on not only project management, but leadership.  It lives up to its subtitle: Timeless Lessons in Planning, Execution and Leadership.

That’s it for today, thanks for reading.  Log on to my website, www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense leadership advice.

I’ll see you around the web, and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

PS: You can now access my archived internet radio shows directly from the home page of my website www.BudBilanich.com.  Turn on your speakers and follow the link. 

PPS: My new book, Fixing Performance Problems: Common Sense Ideas That Work is now available on Amazon.com.  If you're so inclined, I'd appreciate it if you would purchase a copy at $14.95.  This will help me get my Amazon ratings up.  Nice reviews are welcome too.