Fast Iterations: How Napoleon Managed the French Army - Managing Metrics

The armies of the late 1700’s would have looked familiar to Julius Caesar. Thousands of men marching down roads in thin columns with hundreds of supply wagons following behind. The wagons were unable to move across the muddy roads and often forced all the troops to stop and camp whenever the weather turned bad. Opposing armies lumbered slowly across the countryside until they eventually met at the field of battle. The soldiers fanned out into lines that were two men deep with one line firing while the other reloaded. The supply wagons were positioned behind the attacking lines and shuttled food and ammunition up to the fighting and the wounded back to be cared for.
The tactics of war also remained unchanged since Roman times. Generals commanded the forces from the back of the battlefield with scouts in the front closely observing enemy movements. The scouts would carry information back to the generals, who would make decisions and send their orders back to the front.

Agile management styles are nothing new. Even Napoleon used them