Design of Coordinated Action

It was not expected that they would re-form and attack the main body of infantry. 

Hannibal's strategy at Cannae was an astoundingly adroit construction of coordinated actions orchestrated in time and in space.  In 216 B.C., the fundamental formula for military success was fairly basic:  keeping in formation, keeping discipline, and keeping troops from panicking and running. 

Therefore, when a Roman saw the enemy retreat, it looked like victory.  The idea that a commander could convince warlike Gauls and Spaniards into a mock retreat was almost unthinkable.  Furthermore, the normal pattern in ancient battle was that cavalry, after vanquishing the opposing cavalry, would chase fleeing disorganized horsemen and soldiers.  It was not expected that they would re-form and attack the main body of infantry.  The Carthaginian army's competence and discipline at carrying out a complex series of movements by different units --unit that were physically separated but acting in preplanned cohesion around a central design--was surprise.  No army before Hannibal's had executed such choreographed multiple movements in time and space.

ACTION POINT: What coordinated actions can be carried out to surprise the competition or the market?