“It is my experience that **bold decisions give the best promise of success**,” General [[Erwin Rommel]] would write in one of his letters. “But one must differentiate between strategic or tactical boldness and a military gamble. **A bold operation is one in which success is not a certainty but which in case of failure leaves one with sufficient forces in hand to cope with whatever situation may arise**. "**A gamble, on the other hand, is an operation which can lead either to victory or to the complete destruction of one’s force**. "Situations can arise where even **a gamble may be justified as, for instance, when in the normal course of events defeat is merely a matter of time**, when the gaining of time is therefore pointless and the only chance lies in an operation of great risk.” --- **Tags** -- [[quotes]], [[leadership]], [[making-decisions]], [[fooled-by-randomness]], [[probabilistic-thinking]] **Source** -- [[202409180128 - B - Courage is Calling]]