Studying history often informs us about the present. Certainly comparing sports to warfare is hyperbole, but the comparison does reveal parallels.
For example, in historical warfare, the major components are infantry (ground forces), cavalry (mounted troops), and artillery (long-range warfare). The parallels in basketball are obvious - half-court power game, the running game, and perimeter attack.
Reviewing the battle of Chancellorsville (1863) helps us understand that undermanned forces can prevail as General Lee's army defeated the vastly superior Union Army of General Joseph Hooker. Hetty Boerakker notes, "Overconfidence leads to the inability to see changes in the world around us, blinding us to new information that could help us avoid disastrous failures."
A far earlier battle, between the Greeks, especially the Spartans, and Xerxes' Persian horde at Thermopylae teaches us additional lessons. Superior forces shouldn't be underestimated, but committed teams can still 'engage' with devastating results.
In 480 B.C., the Persian King Xerxes, sought to expand his empire farther, but had Greek geography and the withering Spartan army in his way. The Persians outnumbered the collective Greek forces at least ten to one, possibly as much as over thirty to one. When the Persian leader demanded that King Leonidas' forces lay down their weapons, Leonidas replied "come and get them."
During a three-day battle ultimately lost partly because of Greek treachery, the Persians executed a costly victory as the heavily armed defenders, principally three hundred Spartans, exacted a toll of perhaps twenty thousand on the invaders.
This set the stage for the Greeks' winning a decisive naval battle at Salamis the following month, preventing the Persians from conquering the Peloponnesian Peninsula. The combination of the battles at Thermopylae and Salamis dramatically affected subsequent world history. The Greeks quite literally lost the battle but won the war.
In "Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done", Bossidy and Charan outline the role of personnel, strategy, and operations. As basketball coaches, we teach people, develop practices to add value, and then implement operations. We have a lot to learn from the parallels of history.
