Lessons from the Civil War and the Dalai Lama

The Go Point: When It’s Time to Decide — Knowing What to Do and When to Do It
by Michael Useem
Crown Business, 288 pages, $25.

Five "go points" preceded a major turning point in the Civil War remembered as Pickett's Charge, maintains Michael Useem, a management professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

In his new book, "The Go Point," Useem defines a go point as "that decisive moment when the essential information has been gathered, the pros and cons are weighed, and the time has come to get off the fence."

He uses General Robert E. Lee's decision at Gettysburg to send General George Pickett and 13,000 to 15,000 troops in a doomed assault on Union troops to illustrate factors that figure into sound decision-making.

Useem took 33 mid-career managers from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Deutsche Bank, NASA, and other American and international organizations to the scene of the Battle of Gettysburg, something he had done previously with MBA students.

The purpose of the visit to Gettysburg was not just to rehash history. Useem makes it clear that the visitors were not Civil War buffs.

"As they gazed across the now sacred ground of the battlefield, our mid-career managers and MBA students were reminded of the importance of seeing ahead, of thinking strategically, of appreciating the full picture before reaching big decisions," Useem writes.

The five go points that led to the Pickett's Charge decision, Useem says, were: