Posted by Serban Brebenal
I think Napoleon may have simply put down the basics of motivation theories long before the likes of Maslow approached the issue from an economic and managerial point of view. In fact, if we look at a business organization today, these are the two most important incentives that would generally fit at least 80 % of the employees. Certainly, some would be “moved” by motivations such as pleasant working environment, challenging work etc. However, the percentage mentioned would have the interest to climb the corporate ladder and the fear of letting opportunities get by them.
I would add to these two levers something that Napoleon surely didn’t lack: charisma and leadership. Soldiers didn’t follow him thousands and thousands of kilometers throughout Europe because of interest and probably not because of fear either. It must have been something else, maybe that small black hat and the “Little Corporal” nickname.
Posted by Serban Brebenal
Napoleon was no pacifist and we are probably surprised to hear him say this. But this is not necessarily the way we are supposed to put the problem. Perhaps we should ask ourselves whether if a natural-born warrior such as Napoleon was wise enough to at least make this observation, can’t we really?
Can’t we really admit at least that we are barbarians when fighting wars. You would say that two world wars, numerous conflicts on the European continent in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, colonialism and imperialism, slavery and exploitation of fellow man and, above all, the Holocaust would be horror elements enough to make us say: “Only barbarians make wars and we simply don’t want to be barbarians anymore”.
“Or we could just fight it out” they might probably say.
Posted by Serban Brebenal
I am not sure what would have happened to Napoleon if he had said this today. I would be guessing a female revolt in Paris, the storming of St. Cloud and the subsequent lynching of the undesirable character.
However, if Napoleon were to overlook today’s world, he would be in for a couple of surprises. The American state secretary, one of the strongest characters on the international politics scene, is a woman and one who is deeply involved in making the international policy for the strongest country on Earth and the only superpower. The most important economy in Europe, Germany, is also led by a woman, Angela Merkel, with the difficult job of making the German economy more competitive to the challenges of the 21st century. “Alas, even the French Socialists are preparing a woman candidate for the presidential elections.”
And to think that these examples come only in a continuing trend of characters such as Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi or Golda Meir.
Posted by Serban Brebenal
I’d really like to end this series of quotes today with a positive one. Imagination has always been the greatest asset human race had on its way towards conquering the world. From inventing the fire to the steam engine, from the telephone to penicillin and to the greatest invention of them all, the Internet, the human race has never stopped to amaze us and ask ourselves how far it can all go in the end.
Hopefully, this entire imagination spree will not turn into a deadly one. Let’s hope that we will not find ourselves playing around in our dad, the chemist’s lab, until it will all blow up one day.
Posted by Serban Brebenal
I think this is a quote that works excellent in the current business environment. The chaos is not necessarily the sort of negative chaos, introduces ideas and solutions, means of reducing costs, finding new clients, increasing the potential group of consumers and finding ways to become competitive.
In fact, the organization(s) that will succeed will need to adapt their tools to the ever changing environment, use technology in their best interest, identify and select the appropriate supply chains and use emerging markets for both potential new consumers and cheaper resources.
As in any battle speculate the enemy’s weaknesses to find out and solve your own, while speculating those on the field itself.
Posted by Serban Brebenal
I would have really liked to enjoy this quote outside the current political, religious, military and ethical framework. It really is an excellent quote, a quote showing us how public opinion can be controlled in a way that it would positively respond to less pleasant measures.
I can’t unfortunately, because nowadays religion is no longer keeping people quiet, it is making them mad, violent and aggressive. It is making them noisy. Somewhere on the road all religions have lost their tolerant component and those days in Medieval Spain when all three main monotheistic religions lived in peace under Muslim rule are now gone to shambles.
Posted by Serban Brebenal
If we consider that this quote originated in an era when the monarch/leader was not democratically elected (yes, including Napoleon, even if I hear people arguing the Imperial Constitution was overwhelmingly voted. We will acknowledge that it was Napoleon’s will that voted the question), but his monarchic attributes were rather passed down from generation to generation, then today it is more obvious then ever.
Public opinion, often through instruments that speculate a discontent within the population (media, press, opinion leaders), influences national and often global decisions. The Vietnam War ended not only with Saigon’s capitulation, but with the entire wave of protest against an increasing number of American soldiers dying in a foreign war.
Leaders today will most likely learn from the mistakes of the past and the current administration’s recent stances towards a more diplomatic approach is a certain sign in this direction, including the war in Iraq.
Posted by Serban Brebenal
This certainly applied in Napoleon’s time, when any small provocation could lead to war. Europe’s troubled history witnessed this for several centuries, from the Hundred Years War to the Second World War. All wars started from small disputes, small provocations, petty arguments on succession issues or the conquest of small regions as a sign of cocky power.
Nowadays, we can flatter ourselves with being wiser than in those times and the G8 Summit in Sankt Petersburg taking place these days is a show in this sense. Pin-pricks still exist between the most important economies of the world and it is enough to see Russia threaten Europe with higher prices for natural gas and oil to be convinced. However, these seem only silly playground play between serious students who, once in class, are determined to find the solutions to their math problems. This is what is happening in Sankt Petersburg, where the world leaders are taking a common stand in the Middle East crisis, are discussing the world energy crisis, global economy and education issues.
Finally, a positive approach, even if pin-pricks are bound to still exist (Russia will probably still be denied from access to WTO, by the way).
Posted by Serban Brebenal
On the European Constitution, we can definitely declare that it is long and obscure, translating, in many ways, the difficulties faced by a federalized European Union. In their attempt to cover all areas, all populations, all issues facing a unified Europe, the legislators have included acts such as Declaration on Unit 1 and Unit 2 of the Bohunice V1 nuclear power plant in Slovakia or the Declaration on the Sami people. A constitution is never supposed to be exhaustive, because other judicial instruments, such as laws and governmental decisions or the European Commission’s directives will fill in the unaddressed issues. However, this is something the European legislators have a difficult time doing, because the European Constitution is approved by national referendums and, as such, each national must find his rights expressly mentioned in the act. This is probably what makes it obscure and what makes it ambiguous: when you want 462,371,237 individuals (estimated EU population in 2006) to find their rights mentioned in the Constitution, you are bound to run into some trouble. The Constitution of the Consulate had 95 articles in total. The European Constitution has 80 only in its final act and there are 4 parts before it. Of course, as one Napoleonic contemporary put it when asked what the Constitution was about, the Constitution of the Consulate was “about Bonaparte”, but no one really knows what the European Constitution is about.
Posted by Serban Brebenal
The glorious Italian Campaign (1796-1797), the Second Italian Campaign and the battle of Marengo (1800), the 1806-1807 Campaign or the terrible Russian Campaign in 1812, here are only a few of Napoleon’s military campaigns where he could generously reflect on the fact that the army indeed marches on its stomach. A successful military campaign in Napoleon’s times meant that, as a Supreme Commander, you had to organize military communication, structure and administer supplies and identify and exploit sources of food in the country where fighting was carried out. The 21st century is not much different, except that the armies are no longer armies, they are multinationals and organizations with hundreds of thousands of employees. The battle is still a battle for resources, a battle to ensure that the organization receives sources of income to be exploited in the future. Further more, it is still a battle for the human resource, the soldiers in Napoleon’s army, people who are “poor, smart and hungry”, ready to do battle for the organization that pays them. Find the right motivation for your human resource, whether it is money, a better position in the company or the means to climb to the top, and you can expect a better performance on their part.