Change story: Minor change in formation leads to victory!

Change story: Minor change in formation leads to victory!

The Battle of Waterloo, fought in June 1815, was a decisive conflict that marked the end of Napoleon Bonaparte's rule. 65,000 British led forces under Wellington (note, another 45,000 Prussian forces had joined in the last leg of the battle) against 72,000 French forces under Napoleon .

By making a minor change in forces formation from line to square, Wellington led the allied forces to victory. 

Then, line formation was a standard tactical formation where soldiers stood in a in a long, thin line. It allowed the maximum number of muskets to be fired at once. However, the line formation was highly vulnerable to cavalry attacks, especially from the flanks and rear. If not protected, a cavalry charge could easily break the line. 

During the Waterloo battle, Wellington used Square formation, where Soldiers formed a hollow square, with each side of the square facing outward. This allowed them to defend against cavalry attacks from any direction and maintained the morale and stability of the troops, as they felt secure from cavalry charges. The British squares held firm against the repeated assaults by Napoleon's cavalry (Napoleon's Cavalry used to charge first without infantry to exploit weaknesses created by artillery bombardments).

Similarly, Coca-Cola faced intense competition from other soda brands in the early 20th century. With a minor change of introducing the contour bottle, Coca-Cola's sales increased significantly, demonstrating how small changes can lead to major successes.

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