An excerpt from my most recent discussion post, on the concept of "center of gravity" in the theories of Carl von Clausewitz

If this interpretation is correct, then Clausewitz is really just prefiguring the Franklin Covey system of personal productivity. You start with an understanding of your personal values, and develop a personal mission statement—this is a picture of who you want to be, not who you are. So we get Frederick’s mission statement for Prussia: “Prussia will be a powerful, independent force in European affairs.” Then we set some long-term goals that contribute to the mission statement, like obtaining contiguous, rationalized borders for Prussia, or cowing a nearby rival. These are, in Hyrum Smith’s concept, elephants that must be eaten. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. So we set medium-term goals, like annexing Silesia.

But we can’t just go pouring our armies into Silesia all willy-nilly and expect to accomplish our goals. We need a strategy. What is the most effective way to accomplish this goal? If the strength of the country is in its army, the army must be defeated. If, by capturing the capital we could accomplish our goal without meeting the army at all, it is often more efficient to do so. If, by depriving our target of its most powerful ally we may force their surrender without any bloodshed at all, this may be the best course. (I’ll spare you the tedious details of how Frederick would go about breaking his invasion of Silesia into practical, day-to-day tasks, ranked according to priority, and entered in his $200 premium-leather Franklin Covey-brand planner. Monarch size, of course!)

Comments

[Chris Phoenix]

Yeah baby! Thats exactly what I was talking about. He is in the Monarch size planner with the Expressions pages. I bet he even used the old school wedding planner pages to help consolidate his power through marraige!