Its in the Trying

    David McCullough's 1776 (the audio version, narrated by McCullough, is excellent) commends itself on several levels, but the leadership of Washington and his contemporaries, examined by McCullough, shines against the dark, and near hopeless, background of the revolutionary effort.

    Briefly, consider Henry Knox. A bookseller by trade, he used the time on the bookshop to study, of all things, artillery. He did not possess a military background, just the desire to learn and an opportunity presented itself to put his knowledge to use in 1775. He offered his service to George Washington. McCullough describes the events leading to the Colonials achieving the high ground on the Dorchester Heights above Boston, where the British and their navy were firmly entrenched. The problem they faced was no artillery. Knox offered to retrieve the more than 50 guns previously captured at Fort Ticonderoga.
    Leadership often means facing a need and determining how to meet it. Ideas are good. The challenge is what is the right idea? What idea is worth the effort? Knox saw the artillery retrieval as doable - not without logistical issues, but doable. His challenges took a different form than he anticipated.
     The weight of the guns and mortars totaled at least 120,000 pounds and the journey was 300 miles. The trek began in December, with snow and ice dominating the land. He and his team of men gathered more than 40 sledges to begin the backbreaking trek requiring the use of logs, horse, chain, rope, provisions. It would have been easier to say the task could not be done.
     The work was difficult and dangerous, requiring ingenuity to find ways to check and balance the great loads as they traversed over and down hills using rope and chain. At one point all of the guns had safely crossed a frozen river, when a large gun fell through thawing ice. It would have been easier to be content with the cargo already across the river. Retrieving the gun demanded great patience, tenacity, and strength. It required an engineer's mind to calculate the loads and angles. Yet Knox and the men persisted working in the freezing water.
     The group found the going grew more difficult due to an unexpected thaw which turned to hard-frozen ground to mud. The pace slowed to a crawl. They persevered. Finally the ground froze again, and the journey eased. All in all, it was February when the guns arrived.
     Knox decided to try. He overcame incredible difficulty by utilizing a team of men and their collective persistence and tenacity. They ignored the hardships of winter. Knox urged the men on when it is likely they would have been happy to quit. Because of Knox the British had quite the surprise finding Colonial artillery on the heights above them, with the precious navy, perched at docks, within range.
      There are always reasons not to lead, not to decide. Decisions aren't always right. One might fail utterly. One can be paralyzed weighing the options and seeking the best alternative. Questions cry for attention - "What if careful analysis misses something crucial?" "Is the time right?" "Can it be done?" "Will anyone follow?" Knox decided to try - and not give up.