"The Essential Thing"

Bruce Ivar Gudmundsson at The Tactical Notebook offers a new translation of Hans von Seekt’s masterful essay “The Essential Thing.” It speaks directly and powerfully to our project here: to build the skills needed to make challenging decisions under pressure and the character to embrace that responsibility. The opening lines are inspired:

The essential thing is the deed.

The deed consists of three stages: the decision born of thought, the preparation for execution (the order), and the execution itself. The will leads all three of these parts of the deed.

The will springs from character, which, for the man of action, plays a bigger role than intelligence. Without will, intelligence is worthless. Without intelligence, will is dangerous.

This is why the first rule of Warfighters is: Submit your solution before critiquing others’. First, accept responsibility and act; discuss and dissect later. And why the second rule is: All decisions in the form of the orders you will issue. Commanders act through the orders they issue. Don’t describe what you would do; give the order.

TDGs are thought exercises that stop short of execution, the third of von Seekt’s three stages of the deed. Von Seekt reminds us that what matters in the end is execution, which is a product of leadership, training and resolve—things that TDGs do not exercise. I believe TDGs are an invaluable tool for training commanders, but we do well to remember they address only a part of the requirements of command.

I strongly recommend von Seekt’s essay, and Bruce’s nuanced interpretation of it.