If one considers that the prime mission of management is to ensure
             the continuation and success of the company, then it is very easy to see
             how British Admiral Horatio Nelson's once-unique method of getting his
             captains to wage his kind of battle is applicable to the modern
             †Nelson knew that it was the prime responsibility of the
             commander himself to invent the strategy€. Nelson would not be
             out of place in the company of the most sophisticated of modern
             managers. He could probably teach most of them a thing or two
             about strategic vision, communication and collaboration, trust,
             delegation and empowerment, all underlying ideas of mission
             command, all relevant to all organizations (cq), and all part of
             Nelson's actual management style. [1]
             Vincent makes the point that this is all essential modern management
             theory, but he is very careful to note the ways in which Nelson
             accomplished the accord that handed him his victories. It was not a woo
             woo' pie-in-the-sky dependence on the convergence of planets or mystical
             meetings of the minds. Nor did he do it by creating a major playbook,'
             with various possibilities and scenarios laid out with the various
             responses of each captain/manager programmed' as well.
             We can be certain that he concentrated not on detailed plans for
             each of a wide range of hypothetical circumstances but on the
             principles he saw as applicable in all circumstances. These were
             likely to have been simple. Forget the formal Order of Battle,
             we shall form up as most convenient at the time. We shall
             immediately attack the enemy and immediately get close to our
             target. We shall concentrate our whole force on one or two parts
             ...