I had a sort of a motto, โNo details, no paper, and no regrets.โ No details-donโt go about setting machine guns on different sides of bushes. That is done a damn sight better by a platoon commander. Then, no paper. You cannot entirely do without paper, but you can get rid of quite a lot of it. Do not have people coming to you with huge files, telling you all about it. Make the man explain it; and if he cannot explain it, get somebody else who can. When I say โno regretsโ, that is important. You do the best you can. You may have gotten it wrong; you may have lost a battle. You may even have lost a good many of your menโs lives which hurts more, but do not have regrets. Do not sit in the corner and say, โOh, If I had only gone to the left instead of the right,โ or โIf I had only fought in front of the river instead of behind it.โ You have done the best you could-it hasnโt come off. All right! Whatโs the next problem? Get on to that. Do not sit in the corner weeping about what you might have done. No details, no paper, no regrets.
