Law 29: PLAN ALL THE WAY TO THE END

There is a saying: Hindsight is always 20/20. What many do not understand is that Foresight can be just as effective, if only we would make use of it.

Those who do not contemplate their actions inevitably come across undesirable consequences. A frog that jumps into a deep well, seeking water, will die when the well dries up; it had not thought about how to get out. The frog, however, could not think for itself. We, as creatures of reason, do not have that excuse.

Those, on the other hand, who plan only halfway, are almost as foolish as those who do not plan at all. When Louis-Adoplhe Thiers found himself losing during the elections of 1848, he decided to make use of Louis Bonaparte, grand-nephew of Napoleon, whose name alone might sway the masses to their cause. However, he had not planned for when this puppet of his finally turned on them and dissolved the parliament and crowned himself Emperor of France. In this case, perhaps it would have been better had Thiers done nothing; at least then, a parliament would still exist and he would, maybe, stand a chance in the next elections.

Finally, when a plan is fully enacted, stick to it. Had Napoleon contented himself with being the Emperor of France and had not expanded his empire so aggressively, perhaps all of Europe would not have united against him. Learn to plan ahead and stick to the plan at all times, even at the very end.

Reversal:

There is an old military saying: no battle plan survives first contact with an enemy. Should your plan go awry, you should be ready to adapt on the fly. Do not allow yourself confusion or surprise. Generally speaking though, more is lost from not planning enough compared to when planning too much.