The Charge of the Light Brigade (1854)

Modern organizations have their origin in the military model of the first great national European armies in the early 19th century. Good for discipline, good for ensuring that orders are carried out -- no matter the risk or danger, no matter how foolish or pernicious. But bad for thinking, disastrous for creativity and innovation, and often just plain disastrous. Tennyson's famous poem celebrates the soldiers' bravery, but also illustrates the nature of the military model. The suicidal charge of British cavalry against a Russian stronghold during the Crimean War ^[1] was the result of a miscommunication ^[2] carried out because an officer did not think to exercise discretion ^[3].

• 1]  Sometimes considered the first modern war (Simon Royce, The Crimean War and its place in European Economic History (2001, University of London Press) ISBN 0-3825-2868-6), the Crimean War was fought to a stalemate by a dozen european empires for geopolitical purposes remote at best to the interests of the soldiers themselves.
• 2]  During the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854, the brigade attempted a much more difficult objective than intended by the overall commander.
• 3]  The misunderstood commanding officer, Lord Raglan, claimed his subordinate, the Earl of Lucan (yes, they went not by their names, but by their royal titles), should have exercised his discretion. In response, Lucan claimed in a long letter to the London Gazette: no. 21624. p. 3456 (12 November 1854. Retrieved 2011-10-22) that Raglan had allowed him no independence at all and required that his orders be followed to the letter.