“Are You Ready for Battle?” That was the title of a speech I delivered a few days ago to a group of company presidents that are part of a multinational conglomerate. But it was also a challenge I launched, and it is valid for you, me, and anyone else in business. We can’t afford to sit on our laurels. Only the present and future count. Not what you did, but what will you do for people right now and in the near future, and better than what your competitors are doing.
Competition and rivalry are the wellspring of growth and development. I recently watched a documentary on the life and accomplishments of Thomas Edison. He was highly competitive, driven by a desire to invent new things, but also by a will to win, be the first, and dominate his rivals. We’re seeing entire industries disrupted: cable TV, movies and entertainment, aviation, computers, watches, and so on. Readiness is more important now than ever.
Battle readiness is the state of military forces that are capable and prepared to carry out their roles and missions in an operational environment. By extension, Business Readiness is the capability and preparedness to operate successfully and to thrive in business. Even beyond that, it is the awareness and attitude to exploit to changes, maximize opportunities, and minimize risks in order to achieve a company or business unit’s mission, vision, and objectives.
Business readiness requires an offensive mindset in order to seize and maintain the initiative, as well as the strategic, operational, and tactical leadership to influence others in the achievement of the mission. It consists at minimum of the following elements:
Awareness
o Situational awareness of changing opportunities, competitors, markets, needs, threats, and risks
o An understanding and appreciation of the business’ external environment
o An understanding and appreciation of the business’ internal environment
Capability
o Individual and team competence, consisting of the right knowledge, skills, and attitudes to carry out one’s functions, roles, and tasks within the overarching plan and strategy
o The right structure and organization to fulfill the strategy
o Judicious allocation of scarce resources
Preparedness
o The willingness and decisiveness to move quickly to seize and maintain opportunities, as well as the overall initiative
o Speed of observation, orientation, decision, and action: This is usually known in the military as the OODA loop, or the decision-action cycle, and it is critical to move faster and with more resolve than competitors, and sometimes even the clients, suppliers, and distributors.
o Reactiveness and adaptability, which can be summarized by the old saying: “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.”
I’ve created the “Battle Readiness Briefing,” BRB for short. It is designed to build and maintain high levels of business readiness for organizations and business units involved in highly competitive undertakings. A short BRB (less than 90 min) can only really scratch the surface and are more informative than interactive. A half-day BRB is designed to rally a management or leadership team to analyze a problem, generate and consider a range of courses of action, including by competitors or other stakeholders, and to create an initial outline plan or statement of intent. A one- or two-day BRB can delve much deeper, including considering various friendly and “enemy” scenarios. Any duration of BRB can be combined with preliminary preparation and research as well as follow on work options.
I have also designed a full range of interventions, products, and services for building a company’s battle readiness, including: future scenarios and scenario based planning; reconnaissance for opportunities and shaping of the competitive battle space; probing for gaps and weaknesses in markets and the competition; offensive campaign planning; creating bridgeheads and breakouts in new territories and markets; offensive and defensive strategies and tactics; risk management, business continuity, and emergency management planning; strategic, operational, and tactical leadership; as well as leadership and decision-making in crises and emergencies.
The following ten questions will get you started on improving your business/battle readiness:
