Member-only story
No Plan Survives Contact with the Enemy
Let’s explore why being mindful and flexible with any plan is important.
I have been participating in medieval rapier (fencing) combat for 30 years.
In addition to one-on-one single combat, we hold melee fights at some events. Melee is group combat — sometimes 2 on 2, 5 on 5, or even 100 on 100 (and sometimes 125 on 100 and such). While single combat includes some forethought and planning, melee combat gets deeper into strategy and tactics.
Say the goal is “capture the flags.” Looking at our forces, we create a strategy for how we’re going to handle what the opposition does while we’re striving to attain the goal and win.
The vast majority of the time, no plan survives contact with the enemy. For example, the plan might be to sweep most of our forces to the right to flank the opposition, who are expected to approach from the center. Then, when the fight begins, the opposition hooks to their left, meeting our “flankers” head-on and utterly wrecking the plan.
When you commit everything to a single plan — with no flexibility or possible alternatives — if and when it crumbles, you will be at a loss. This doesn’t just apply to combat. This is true of everything we desire to plan in life.
