"Past is Prologue"

There is a statue in front of the National Archives in Washington, D.C. called "Future" that bears an inscription on the front that states, "What Is Past Is Prologue." 





The phrase actually comes from "The Tempest" by William Shakespeare (specifically, Act 2, Scene 1, when the character Antonio uses the phrase to infer that all the events that have happened in the past have led Sebastian, another character, and himself to the choice that lay in front of them - either commit murder or not).  The phrase is now commonly used to infer that history sets the context for the present.  In other words, what has happened in the past has an impact on what happens in the present and the future.  There is a similar quote by the philosopher, George Santayana that is similar and perhaps just as familiar - "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."


History is important.  That's one reason why I particularly like a concept that the U.S. Army uses to teach leadership - it's called a "Staff Ride".  The concept of a "staff ride" was originally developed by a Prussian General named Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, though it was popularized and first adopted by the U.S. Army by Major Eben Swift while he was serving as the assistant commanding officer of the General Service and Staff School in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in the early 1900's.  Essentially, a staff ride is a thorough, in-depth, and comprehensive study of a historical battle.  There are typically three phases to the staff ride.  During the "Preliminary Study" phase, participants study the battle or campaign in great detail with guidance from the instructor.  Participants review the battlefield terrain, the forces that participated in the battle, the technology that was available, and the background of the key commanders as well as the decisions that they made during the battle.  Each participant also studies a particular role or position to assume during the next phase of the ride.  During the "Field Study" portion, the instructor and participants actually go to the battlefield and review the events of the battle or campaign in great detail - in many cases, the participants role play the different positions or key commanders that they learned about in the "Preliminary Study" phase.  In the final phase, the "Integration Phase", the instructor provides a final summary and integration of the key learnings from the battle and how these learnings can be applied in current leadership challenges of the army today.


Staff Rides are also used outside of the military.  For example, the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies also uses "Staff Rides" as part of their curriculum.  There is an independent group called the Academy Leadership that hosts an on-site leadership development program called  "The Gettysburg Leadership Experience", which relies heavily on the events that occurred during the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War.  Conceptually, staff rides are very similar to the Harvard Business School Case Method.  Just imagine how the staff ride could be adapted to teach about leadership skills and decisionmaking in health care administration!  The past is truly a treasure trove of information that the leaders of today can learn from without necessarily experiencing certain events or crises requiring difficult decisions.  The past, is truly, prologue.