Freezing at Valley Forge.
Deserting by the thousands.
Armed with hunting rifles and stolen muskets.
If you had a computer run the numbers on a militia of farmers, blacksmiths, businessmen, and mercenaries facing the most powerful army on Earth, victory would never be the prediction.
Here's just a few Continental Army facts:
1. Made up almost entirely of civilians farmers, blacksmiths, tradesmen, and mercenaries with no formal military training
2. Spent the winter of 1777–78 at Valley Forge with little food, clothing, or shelter, and nearly a quarter of the army died
3. Went up against the British Army and Royal Navy, the best-funded, best-equipped military force in the world
4. Went on to win and found the greatest nation in history
And none of that was supposed to happen, not if you relied on the numbers alone.
This is because numbers can't measure what makes people live ambitious lives full of great work. Numbers can't predict character, courage, work ethic, nor values.
The Continental Army is proof of an important fact: you can't gauge someone's total potential by just looking at a list of skills.
You have to look at what drives them and what they're going to do with the tools they've been given. You have to look at their character and their values.
Those signals will tell you if they'll just fill a seat or if they'll be a part of something extraordinary.