Out my eyes, in both my lived experiences and anything I ever read that I thought was even semi-relevant, middle management is actually the layer that most determines a good and bad outcome. I perceive not a whole lot of people share this view and I would like to persuade you. I hope you believe me I could tell a lot of stories from my own career, but to keep things on neutral ground I give a number of examples from military history you can read about in a book and that I think tell a story very relevant to large corporations.