Late in the afternoon of May 6th, 1864, Confederate General Jubal Early successfully attacked troops under the command of General John Sedgwick.
During that night, General Grant was receiving reports about the “disaster” that had befallen Sedgwick, one of the Union generals expressed grave concerns that Lee would follow up on the Confederate success and move to cut off the Union Army.
Grant said:
Some of you always seem to think that he [Lee] is suddenly going to turn a double somersault, and land in our rear and on both of our flanks at the same time.
Now, go… and try to think about what we are going to do ourselves – instead of what Lee is going to do.
The Lesson: It’s important to know and think about what your competitors may be planning, and the impact that could have upon you… but it is even more important to be thinking about what you could be doing yourself.