The Nonsense of 'Amateurs Study Tactics; Pros Talk Logistics'

And why it matters that the strategist considers everything

“Amateurs study tactics; professionals talk logistics.”

Nobody knows precisely where this expression comes from. You can imagine an origin story easily enough.

A bunker in battle. A boardroom in business. A campaign in crisis. The backdrop matters less than this: a young buck publicly talks through an organization’s problems and finishes with a flourish and an elegant idea about how they’ll fight better tomorrow. An elder looks down, nods knowingly, and says, “Son, amateurs talk tactics; professionals talk logistics.”

What nonsense. Utter rubbish. It’s like somebody’s stomach down-talking the arms for being unimportant.

Think about the way that statement is often used. It’s essentially a way to disparage tactics in relation to logistics. But, again, that makes no sense. Tactics are the physical actions one takes against an adversary. It can get more complicated than that, but that’s about it. These include the bullet that flies, the tank that maneuvers, and the supply lines that connect Point A to Point B.

Logistics are part of tactical action. A necessary part. You cannot conduct a tactical action for long if you do not supply and resupply. The idea that logistics is somehow different from or elevated in relation to tactics is ridiculous. They exist on the same plane—literally, in the sense that the trigger-pullers cannot pull triggers unless someone’s feeding them more bullets and sandwiches. Alternately, the logisticians with all those sandwiches and bullets won’t move the front line an inch on their own. That’s why war’s a team sport.

Strategy is different.

Strategy coordinates and concentrates and synchronizes and harmonizes all these physical actions in a single orientation toward success. Strategy does so from a uniquely elevated position relative to other concepts like tactics and logistics. But it is not “higher than” or “better than” tactics or logistics. They are all part of the same team, each with roles crucial to the success of the whole.

Lawrence Freedman has reminded us that the practicing strategist must consider factors as diverse as politics, engineering, sociology, psychology, geography, history, and economics to get the “best out of one’s own side,” and to defeat an adversary. (Freedman was, of course, writing about war, but his larger point about skill diversity still seems to apply.)

So let’s knock it off with the tactics versus logistics thing. Both matter, a lot. And both need to play well together if we’re gonna get anywhere with strategy.