Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories

6BATTLE OF THE CRATER—SIEGE OF PETERSBURGU.S. CIVIL WAR (1864)

THE VALUE DRIVERS:THE UNANTICIPATED SOLUTION

All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problembrings us face to face with another problem.— MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

 

In the summer of 1864, during the Siege of Petersburg, the U.S. Army conceived the idea of literally blowing a hole in the Confederate defenses. They dug a tunnel under the Confederate lines and filled it with explosives. The ensuing explosion created a large crater, which the Union troops stormed into. Unfortunately, the crater had steep walls, and the soldiers found themselves trapped. It was very difficult ...