Every leader wants to avoid major strategic mistakes, but, in a complex world, it’s hard to anticipate all the forces that might impact your goal. It’s vital to find weaknesses in your strategies before you implement them — and developing a rigorous process to do so.
4 Ways to Pressure-Test Strategic Decisions, Inspired by the U.S. Military
Almost every leader has developed a process designed to avoid critical strategic mistakes, but, as the world continues to grow more complex, it’s much harder to anticipate all the changes and forces that may impact your final goal. Therefore, finding weaknesses in your strategies before you implement them and developing a rigorous process for doing so are vital. The innate ability to poke holes in one’s own strategies is something the US military has practiced and refined over centuries. Tips include forming teams that consider alternative scenarios to an expected outcome while brainstorming solutions to those scenarios if they occur; forming a council that will offer you the unvarnished truth; performing “war games” to poke holes in your own strategies; and forming a strategic council that can analyze situations from different perspectives.