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46Principle · Group 7 · Anchor principle

Moral Forces

Morale and cohesion in organizations

“The will, courage and cohesion of those involved often matter more than numbers and equipment, because they determine what becomes of the available means.”

You can count resources: budget, headcount, tools. You cannot count attitude.

Group 7: People, Morale and PowerT1 Classical Theory of War
Go to the in-depth section ↓
A scale made of fine lines: on the left, one pan sinks under many teal dots; on the right, a pan floats with a few mist-blue circles in which golden cores light up one after another, until the right pan sinks into balance. At the end, a golden line and a teal bar join into one shape: only the two together hold.
In short

The will, courage and cohesion of those involved often matter more than numbers and equipment, because they determine what becomes of the available means.

What it’s about: You can count resources: budget, headcount, tools. You cannot count attitude. And yet it often decides what the resources are worth. Courage, will, trust and cohesion determine how much of what a group has actually takes effect. A well-equipped force that has no will to fight is weaker than a small one that knows what it stands for.

In depth

The principle in detail

Three steps through the principle: grasp it, place it, put it to work. Open each topic on its own.

The core messageCore statement and 3 clarifications
In essence

Resources take effect only through the people who use them. Will, courage and cohesion decide how much of them becomes effective.

It does not say
That enthusiasm replaces missing resources. Morale multiplies what is there; it cannot make something out of nothing.
It does not say
That morale is a good mood. It holds precisely when the mood is bad.
It also says
Morale is often cohesion on a small scale. It grows in the immediate group more than through big words.
The explanationIf you underestimate morale, you plan only with numbers.

There are mistakes in both directions.

  • If you underestimate morale, you plan only with numbers.
  • If you overestimate it, you believe enthusiasm can replace training and preparation.
  • And if you confuse morale with a good mood, you will be caught off guard when the mood turns.
The question

What becomes of your resources when things get hard, and what are you doing so that your people still want to go on then?

The signs3 signs when you heed it · 3 when you overlook it
When you heed it
  • In every plan, you ask how your team is doing in terms of strength and cohesion.
  • After a setback, you talk to the people first, then about the numbers.
  • Small teams stick together and take the initiative themselves.
When you overlook it
  • Your plans count only budget and headcount.
  • You fire people up with slogans where equipment or training is missing.
  • After the first setback, everyone waits for instructions.
The backgroundFrom Carl von Clausewitz’s work “On War” (1832–1834), Book III, Chapters 3 to 5. · T1 Classical Theory of War
  1. 1832–1834
    OriginCarl von Clausewitz

    On War

  2. 1948
    SupplementedEdward A. Shils and Morris Janowitz

    Cohesion and Disintegration in the Wehrmacht in World War II

  3. Tradition T1
    TraditionClassical Theory of War

    Carl von Clausewitz, Antoine-Henri Jomini, Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, Frederick William Lanchester

    See the tradition on the Origin page
Read more: the full background

From Carl von Clausewitz’s work “On War” (1832–1834), Book III, Chapters 3 to 5. Supplemented by the study by Edward A. Shils and Morris Janowitz (1948) on cohesion in small groups.

The research2 sources: 1 classic, 1 primary study · 1832–1948 · with limitations of the research
2 sources1832–1948 period1 classic1 primary study
Strength of evidence
  1. weak
  2. moderate
  3. strong

Carl von Clausewitz grounds the principle in military history, and Edward A. Shils and Morris Janowitz support the part about cohesion empirically; nobody measures the comparison with numbers and equipment.

  1. 1832
    Classic
    Carl von Clausewitz

    “On War” (in German), Book III, Chapters 3 to 5: moral forces are among the most important subjects in war; their principal elements are the talents of the commander, the military virtue of the army and its national spirit.

  2. 1948
    Primary study
    Edward A. Shils and Morris Janowitz

    “Cohesion and Disintegration in the Wehrmacht in World War II”: the soldiers’ fighting power depended above all on the cohesion of their immediate group and only slightly on National Socialist conviction.

Where the research reaches its limits
  • Moral forces work only together with material ones.
  • In the long run, enthusiasm does not replace missing resources, and where leaders preach morale as a substitute for equipment, training or planning, the principle becomes dangerous.
  • After the fact, morale is easy to cite as the explanation for any victory, which makes it hard to test.
  • In 1996, Stephen G. Fritz qualified the finding of Edward A. Shils and Morris Janowitz for the Eastern Front: there, ideology played a stronger part, intertwined with comradeship.
Read more: what research shows

Carl von Clausewitz devotes separate chapters to moral forces in “On War.” He counts them among the most important subjects in war and compares the physical forces to the wooden hilt of a weapon and the moral ones to its precious metal. As the principal moral elements, he names the talents of the commander, the military virtue of the army and its national spirit. He could not measure any of this; he relies on military history. In 1948, Edward A. Shils and Morris Janowitz studied the German armed forces of the Second World War, the Wehrmacht, and concluded that the soldiers fought less out of political conviction than out of attachment to their immediate group. There, morale appears as cohesion on a small scale. Neither source offers measured proof that morale often matters more than numbers and equipment.

The related principles37 Strength of the Defense · 47 Unity of Leaders and People · 56 Asymmetry · 85 Death Ground
Unity of Leaders and PeopleStrength of the Defense

To go deeper, see 47 Unity of Leaders and People (morale grows strongest where leaders and people want the same thing) and 37 Strength of the Defense (those who defend what is their own often fight more resolutely)

Asymmetry

56 Asymmetry shows why the materially weaker side needs moral strength

Death Ground

85 Death Ground shows what forces people mobilize when there is no way out

Read more: the full text

To go deeper, see 47 Unity of Leaders and People (morale grows strongest where leaders and people want the same thing) and 37 Strength of the Defense (those who defend what is their own often fight more resolutely). 56 Asymmetry shows why the materially weaker side needs moral strength, and 85 Death Ground shows what forces people mobilize when there is no way out.

The action steps5 things you can actually do
  1. Include your people’s morale in every assessment of the situation: what do they believe in, what keeps them going, what wears them down?
  2. Protect the small groups in which cohesion develops. Don’t break up well-established teams without good reason.
  3. Say honestly how hard the task is, and at the same time show a way forward. The same facts can paralyze or encourage.
  4. Make room for initiative. People who are allowed to think along hold out longer when the plan no longer fits.
  5. Don’t promise miracles from enthusiasm. Make sure that resources, training and preparation are right, so that morale has something to work on.
The reflection questions3 questions: When did you last ask in a planning session how your people are doing in terms of strength?
  1. When did you last ask in a planning session how your people are doing in terms of strength?
  2. What do you spread when the situation gets difficult: confidence with a way forward, or worry without one?
  3. Where are you expecting enthusiasm to do what resources, training or time should actually achieve?

Take your time with one question. Write down your answer – or talk it over with someone you trust.

To finish
The picture to rememberThe animation once more, with an explanation
  1. A scale made of fine lines: on the left, one pan sinks under many teal dots
  2. On the right, a pan floats with a few mist-blue circles in which golden cores light up one after another, until the right pan sinks into balance
  3. At the end, a golden line and a teal bar join into one shape: only the two together hold
Strategy Check

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In context

Group 7: People, Morale and Power

Guiding question: What moves people to go along or to resist?

Stage 4 of 5: Act with others

Where the 92 principles come from: eight traditions of strategy, from classical war theory to dealing with uncertainty.

More about the origin

Background: WEGVISOR’s own selection from the strategy literature · More about the origin

Examples

The principle in practice

From the different spheres of society.

Government

Finland in the Winter War and Moral Forces

In the winter of 1939–40, the Soviet Union attacks little Finland with vastly superior forces. The Finns hold out for more than three months and preserve their independence, because will, cohesion and knowledge of the terrain make up for some of the tanks and guns they lack.

Moral Forces
Education

The White Rose and Moral Forces

In 1942 and 1943, a handful of students in Munich stand up to the Nazi regime with leaflets. They have no power and no resources, only conscience and courage, and that is exactly what continues to have an effect beyond their deaths.

Moral Forces
Culture & Sports

Herb Brooks, the Miracle on Ice and Moral Forces

At the 1980 Winter Olympics, a young team of U.S. college players beats the seemingly unbeatable Soviet hockey team. Coach Herb Brooks had built his team on cohesion, fitness and belief in its own chance.

Moral Forces
GovernmentFaith

Movie: Hacksaw Ridge

The medic Desmond Doss refuses to carry a weapon and is mocked for it. In the Battle of Okinawa, he saves dozens of wounded men, because his conviction carries him where others give up.

Moral Forces
FAQ

Questions about Moral Forces

What does the principle of Moral Forces say?

The will, courage and cohesion of those involved often weigh more than material resources. Resources take effect only through the people who use them.

Where does the principle of Moral Forces come from?

From Carl von Clausewitz, who devotes separate chapters to moral forces in “On War” (1832–1834). Later research, for example by Edward A. Shils and Morris Janowitz, emphasizes the role of cohesion in small groups.

What are some examples of Moral Forces?

Well-known examples are Finland in the Winter War of 1939–40, the White Rose and the Miracle on Ice in 1980.

How well is Moral Forces supported by research?

Evidence: moderate – Carl von Clausewitz grounds the principle in military history, and Edward A. Shils and Morris Janowitz support the part about cohesion empirically; nobody measures the comparison with numbers and equipment.

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