During my final semester of graduate school I took a class titled, “Leadership Ride: Lessons from Gettysburg”. The objective was simple — to study the Civil War’s most decisive battle and apply the lessons from it to business and investing in the current day.
Fascinating read. Having grown up in the Midwest then spending time in TX, I was never really immersed in the civil war like folks who have lived on the East coast. I recently moved to N.C. and it feels like history is all around me. To your point, I certainly don't envy the fund managers I work with who have to navigate these battles day to day. Overconfidence works until it doesn't.
I'm not a military historian (just an amateur), but I wonder how much of Lee's decision to assault Cemetery Ridge was also an act of desperation. Lee had been on the backfoot for practically the entire war and even despite winning masterpieces such as Chancellorsville (a few months earlier) must have seen the writing on the wall. This made "risk[ing] it all to seize the hill" even more poignant. Lee didn't just choose to risk it all to seize the hill, he HAD to seize that hill. There was no possible positive outcome for the Confederacy if that hill wasn't seized. So it changed the algebra of Lee's choice dramatically. For the entirety of the Chancellorsville campaign Lee was able to look at both the reward AND the risk, but once he took the ANV north he was committed. This makes me wonder where in my investments or goals I have taken my Army (portfolio) north. This was a great piece, Ted!
Fascinating read. Having grown up in the Midwest then spending time in TX, I was never really immersed in the civil war like folks who have lived on the East coast. I recently moved to N.C. and it feels like history is all around me. To your point, I certainly don't envy the fund managers I work with who have to navigate these battles day to day. Overconfidence works until it doesn't.
I'm not a military historian (just an amateur), but I wonder how much of Lee's decision to assault Cemetery Ridge was also an act of desperation. Lee had been on the backfoot for practically the entire war and even despite winning masterpieces such as Chancellorsville (a few months earlier) must have seen the writing on the wall. This made "risk[ing] it all to seize the hill" even more poignant. Lee didn't just choose to risk it all to seize the hill, he HAD to seize that hill. There was no possible positive outcome for the Confederacy if that hill wasn't seized. So it changed the algebra of Lee's choice dramatically. For the entirety of the Chancellorsville campaign Lee was able to look at both the reward AND the risk, but once he took the ANV north he was committed. This makes me wonder where in my investments or goals I have taken my Army (portfolio) north. This was a great piece, Ted!