Could detailed planning persuade Hitler to postpone?

German officers who doubted Sea Lion still had to handle Hitler's authority within the Nazi system. Directly rejecting his wishes was difficult, though he could listen when presented with information. A possible explanation for the volume of planning is that it accumulated the evidence needed for Hitler to decide against the operation himself. In that reading, staff work helped manage the decision as well as investigate the military problem. This remains an interpretation of why the exercise continued, rather than a demonstrated shared intention among all its planners.