If you tell people where to go, but not how to get there, you’ll be amazed at the results. - Patton
I saw this quote today and it reminded me of a History Channel show I saw. It was about D-Day and a group who were parachuted in to destroy a particular big gun installation over one of the beaches.
When they fought their way to the installation, they found out that the gun wasn’t there; it had been moved miles inland. But here’s the cool thing. The soldiers’ orders weren’t “go to this bluff and destroy the gun there”. Their orders were “go destroy this gun”. So they packed up their stuff and moved inland to destroy the gun.
This made an impression on me because I live in a world where just enough is considered OK. A world where “nobody told me that” is considered a good excuse. I like the simplicity of it. They were supposed to destroy the gun. The gun wasn’t where they thought it was, so they went to find and destroy it.
Our basic, personal principles work the same way, don’t they?