Today's Washington Post features an article by Greg Jaffe and Karen DeYoung describing two Afghan military scenarios a war game designed to assist the Administration determine its course of action in "the faltering war in" Afghanistan. War gaming exercises like this are often used by the military and business leaders to help think through the consequences of strategic decisions.
Two important aspects of the war game are highlighted in the article; 1) a war game may not provide the answer, and 2) the benefits of looking at a strategic decision from many viewpoints and putting your team in to the minds of other "competitors". Both these aspects are discussed in the article and highlighted by the authors. First, "The Pentagon war game did not formally endorse either course; rather, it tried to gage how Taliban fighters, the Afghan and Pakistani governments and NATO allies might react to either of the scenarios". Second, "We were running out the options and trying to understand the implications from many different perspectives, including the enemy and the Afghan people," said a senior military official, who was granted anonymity to discuss the classified game.
Managers who war game their businesses can apply the same lessons as described in this article. Based on our extensive experience designing and facilitating war games it is critical to prepare for a war game by:
- identifying the key constituents or stakeholders who have a role in the outcome of the strategy
- assembling accurate description of the current situation or environment
- building likely scenarios that are likely or may have high-impact outcomes
- assembling teams to assume the roles of stakeholders
- determining how to measure or quantify results
