05/05/2026
5 de Mayo has always mattered to me for one personal reason, it’s my mom’s birthday. And it’s also a day I’ve come to associate with a leadership lesson I think about often: moving forward when conditions aren’t ideal.
The leadership lesson comes from 1862, at the Battle of Puebla, when a smaller, less-equipped Mexican force defeated a significantly larger French army. It wasn’t expected, and it certainly wasn’t comfortable. But it happened anyway; and that’s the point I want to make here as I reflect on where we are and what we do.
What makes this moment relevant today
To me, it’s not just a historical reference. It reflects a pattern I see all the time: the goal is clear, but the path is still being built and teams are asked to deliver…
without complete information
without ideal resources
and without perfect timing
And still move forward.
This usually appears in moments like:
A launch date is fixed, but requirements are still evolving.
A delivery target is clear, but resources are constrained.
A strategy is defined, but ex*****on details are incomplete.
There is almost always a gap between clarity and reality. That gap doesn’t close on its own… it gets crossed through ex*****on.
Most organizations don’t struggle because they lack direction, what I see more often is that they wait for better conditions, they wait for full alignment, complete clarity or reduced risk; and in most cases, those conditions never fully arrive. So work/initiatives never start or they stall.
In the teams that move well under pressure, I see a few consistent behaviors that are practical, repeatable, and grounded in how work actually gets done.
- Clarity over completeness: Enough definition to start is often more valuable than waiting for full certainty.
- Decisions closer to ex*****on: Teams move faster when decisions are made where the work happens.
- Iteration over perfection: Progress is treated as refinement, not finality… my dad always told me, “nothing is perfect but everything is perfectible”
These aren’t theoretical ideas. They show up in the day-to-day choices that determine whether work moves or waits.
What could move forward today with what is already available?
5 de Mayo is a reminder that ex*****on rarely happens under ideal conditions… It happens in spite of them.
And the difference between progress and stagnation is often not planning but rather the willingness to move with imperfect information.
If this feels familiar, you’re not alone. We’ve worked with leaders and teams navigating these exact constraints; building clarity, creating operating structure, and keeping momentum when conditions are still evolving.