Lord Nelson, the Battle of Trafalgar and a Lesson in Strategy

I've been listening to a great book by Richard Rumelt titled Good Strategy Bad Strategy.  Of the 100 audiobooks I've listened to the past year this is the third that I found myself purchasing a hard copy by the time I finished the book. I hope to share more about the stories and ideas here. If you are a marketing professional or business leader, I encourage you to read this book. It is the clearest presentation of marketing strategy that I have ever read.

Rumelt begins his book with the Battle of Trafalgar as an illustration of strategy. For the unfamiliar, this major naval battle took place in 1805. Napoleon had made his intention of invading England known. First, however, he would have to clear the English Channel of any opposition.

Britain already had established its dominance of the high seas in the 18th century, so Napoleon teamed up with the Spanish to clear the way for his ambitious plans. The French-Spanish coalition had 33 ships versus Lord Nelson's 27 ship fleet for this confrontation.

The normal manner in which battleship fleets would engage on the high seas was to line up in two parallel lines and face off. Lord Nelson, being outnumbered, recognized that being outnumbered would be a major disadvantage. Evaluating his options, he conceived an alternate, non-traditional strategy that would take advantage of his navy's strength, more experience in turbulent seas.

Photo by Tanner Mardis on Unsplash

Lord Nelson chose to form two lines that would sail perpendicular into the Spanish line, dividing it into three groups. He would then surround the tail third and wipe them out while the other ships took time to to turn around. The maneuver also cut off the bulk of the fleet from the signal corps so there was a communication breakdown and much confusion.

When all was said and done, the Franco-Spanish fleet lost 22 ships and Lord Nelson's fleet lost none. The end result? Britain’s naval dominance was firmly secured and remained unsurpassed for another century-and-a-half.

* * * *
So what's the point? Good strategy is built on good diagnosis. Lord Nelson's fleet didn't win by flexed muscles and pep talks. "We're Brits. We're the Best! Hoo Rah! Hoo Rah! Go team!" Because Lord Nelson knew what he was up against he was able to devise a strategic plan that pit his strengths (experience) against the Franco-Spanish fleets lack of experience. In the confusion that ensued, his fleet made fast work of skillfully pummeling the opposition.

The key to marketing success is applied critical thinking. There is no single strategy that fits all situations.

According to Rumelt, good strategy almost always looks simple and obvious and doesn't require a thick deck of Powerpoint slides to explain. It doesn't pop out of some strategic management tool, matrix, charts, triangles or fill in the blanks scheme.

“The core of strategy is always the same," he states. Discover the critical factors in the situation and design a way of coordinating and focusing actions to deal with those factors.

Related Link
Lessons from Desert Storm
Good Strategy Bad Strategy (about the book)