“Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.”
“Furthermore, I am of the opinion that Carthage must be destroyed.”
History attributes the phrase to Cato, who would conclude his speeches in the Roman Senate with it, even when the subject was something else.
For Cato, Carthage was more than an adversary. It was an unresolved strategic issue. Perhaps that is where the phrase’s real power lies.
At some point, every organisation and every management team has its own “Carthage”.
- A problem they know about, but keep postponing.
- A weakness everyone sees, but no one addresses.
- A flawed structure preserved out of habit.
- A risk that was recognised, but gradually became part of everyday life.
This is where management and strategy differ.
Management deals with what is happening today. Strategy does not forget what could shape tomorrow.
In security, this is a fundamental principle. Serious threats rarely appear out of nowhere. They are usually preceded by indicators, weaknesses, omissions and small deviations that someone decided to leave until later.
But risk does not disappear because we stop talking about it. A threat that is ignored does not cease to exist. It simply gains time.
That is why operational management needs to retain a clear sense of purpose. Amid the pressures of everyday work, it needs its own “Carthago delenda est”.
Not as a cry for destruction, but as a reminder:
- Do not forget what the real problem is.
- Do not allow the urgent to eclipse the important.
- Do not confuse temporary calm with resolution.
And once you have identified what needs to change at a strategic level, do not abandon the objective because the path has become difficult.
There is, however, one critical condition: persistence without judgement becomes obsession.
Strategic persistence requires continual reassessment. Is the objective still right? Have the circumstances changed? Is this particular problem still the real “Carthage”?
In security, we do not simply repeat an objective. We reassess it, confirm it and, when it remains valid, persist until it is achieved.
This often applies to life itself.
Some problems do not call for us to become better at managing them. They call for us to decide to resolve them.
Carthago delenda est.