Why is military mission planning great for business success?

I guess the first questions should be what is military mission planning? When we plan missions in the SEAL Teams, we use a simple six-step formula to achieve success.

1. Mission: This is your end goal and drives everything else you do. The mission must be clearly defined and understood prior to planning.

2. Mission Planning: This is where you figure out the best way to achieve your objective. Plan how you are going to get where you want to go. Plan for contingencies, because almost no plan goes perfectly according to plan. Think conventionally, then thing unconventionally. What could possibly go wrong? What if? What if? What if?

3. Brief the Plan: Always give the mission statement so there is no confusion. Then brief the actions required to complete the mission, then brief roles, responsibilities, and expectations all members. By telling people face to face what is expected of them, there is never any confusion or miscommunications. Finally, ensure contingencies and backup plans are covered.

4. Dirt Dive: This is probably the most important and most neglected parts of mission planning. Practice the action phases of the mission, then practice the contingencies and backup plans. If it is a military operation, the team will practice things that seem simple but can get messed up if you don’t go over them like getting in and out of vehicles in a specific order, making radio calls, or other communications practices so everyone knows what they are going to hear on the mission. If you practice the basics “simple stuff”, your team will have a foundation to fall back on when things start going wrong. There is a really good chance you will have to use one or more of your backup plans. Try to make them simple to execute as well.

5. Execution: This is where all the hard work and preparation goes into action.

6. After Action Review: Once the mission is over, the team comes back together to discuss what went right, what went wrong, what no one foresaw, how to fix those problems and how to do it all better next time.

From War Room to Board Room, I have found that this process is critical for organizational success.

Authored By: William Branum, Retired Navy SEAL

Click Here to View William’s Bio.

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