The battlefield conference is a facilitated seminar through which participants develop their understanding of their own situation through personal reflection and interaction within the group. The history is the medium through which we see ourselves and the issues we face today. The purpose is not so much to learn history as much as it is to use it. Visiting these battlefields puts us in touch with leaders and their decisions, allowing us to reconstruct much of what was in their minds as they experienced success and failure. Participants find that they can follow the leadership issues with remarkable clarity.

Prior to the conference, we provide each participant with reference materials that are specifically selected for the client’s objectives. These materials help the participant understand what will happen during the conference so that they are able to plan travel and clothing. But they also serve as a valuable refresher on the relevant history.

The conduct of the conference is flexible, though we recommend gathering the night before for dinner and a relaxing seminar to set the stage.

We then visit the battlefield on the next day where we move between vantage points in a carefully determined way that best enables us to interpret what happened on the field and to see and understand the circumstances through the eyes of the historical leaders—both as they saw it at the time and as we have come to understand it through history.

We end that day with an “after action review” during which we discuss what happened and why. Most importantly, we discuss what it means for your group that is sharing the experience.

A multiple day event repeats this process, and the after action reviews become richer as we compare more experiences in depth.