The higher the officer, the clearer and stronger must be the command, with distinct responsibilities at the next level down the hierarchy. Any failure in this system leads to problems propagating down the tree.

The modern British army uses something called ‘the commander’s intent’. Much attention is paid to understanding this, so even if units get separated, they can still use their initiative towards the single goal.

In business, senior strategy often flops as varying management and local interpretation leads to a misaligned and uncoordinated set of tactics.