By Jerry Manas

Adapted from his book, Napoleon on Project Management: Timeless Lessons in Planning, Execution, and Leadership (Nelson Business, April 2006)

“Get your principles straight. The rest is a matter of detail.”
- NAPOLEON

Napoleon Bonaparte, the greatest military figure in European history, was perhaps the greatest project manager of all time too. He not only turned France into a military powerhouse, he also brought good governance to all his empire. Even his greatest adversary, the Duke of Wellington, when asked who the greatest general of his day was, responded, “In this age, in past ages, in any age, Napoleon.” Perhaps it’s why countless military leaders throughout history have studied and benefited from Napoleon’s principles and techniques, and why many modern leadership and marketing books quote Napoleon to this day.

In addition to successfully leading over fifty military campaigns, Napoleon also led hundreds of development and rebuilding efforts all throughout Europe, including financial reforms, infrastructure setup, construction of roads, bridges, marinas, museums, and more¾all during a period of constant warfare. And he succeeded using sound principles and techniques that are as applicable today as they were then. To oversee all of these efforts, he used advanced project portfolio management practices before the term portfolio management even existed¾except he used it to manage an entire empire. Furthermore, he did all this without the use of email, telephones, or computers.

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By Mark Kozak-Holland

Most people are very familiar with Winston Churchill but may not be familiar with his “agile” approach to project management and his skills as a PM in the summer of 1940. With an invasion imminent Part 17 looked at how Beaverbrook immediately impacted the Ministry of Aircraft production (MAP) by securing raw materials, labor, and building public good will. This article looks at how Beaverbrook focused on the problems of fighter production and took an unconventional approach that brought in ideas and best practices from other industries.

The target fighter production rate of 200 fighters per month was simply unacceptable. Therefore, Beaverbrook oversaw the following initiatives to improve the efficiency of the supply chain:

• The supply chain was revamped to improve agility and speed up delivery output. Production of fighters was limited from five to two proven types, the Hurricane and Spitfire, which were already in quantity production. Fewer aircraft types left in production eliminated some business processes.  Agreement was reached that all efforts were to be concentrated on the production of just these two fighters and to have higher priority over bombers, until the end of September 1940. If it was profitable as well then labor from other aircraft factories was to be transferred. Standardization provided everything needed for Hurricane and Spitfire production so it could be immediately stepped up. Standardization safeguarded the supply of materials and equipment already allocated for these types and made it possible to divert from other types the necessary parts, stocks of materials and components, and reserves of production capacity for immediate use.  Aircraft parts were sourced from hundreds of large and small suppliers to ensure availability, avoid bottlenecks, and a continuous flow.

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Read the previous paper in this series. Churchill the Project Manager (Part 17)
View the entire series at: http://www.pmforum.org/library/papers/index.htm

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