by Richard Martin
There are three pillars underlying readiness: vigilance, preparedness, and robustness. Vigilance involves staying on the lookout for changes and trends. Preparedness is about creating conditions for future success. Robustness is the capacity to sustain hits and disruptions and to continue functioning in the face of obstacles, friction, and opposition.
However, not everyone in an organization exercises and implements vigilance, preparedness, and robustness in the same manner. A salesperson or production manager has different concerns, responsibilities and perspectives than the CEO or VP Marketing. It’s critical to view the situation through the most appropriate lens. Are we developing strategic readiness, operational readiness, or tactical readiness?
Strategic readiness views the world through the lens of conflict and competition. It is the perspective of any entity striving to survive and thrive in the face of uncertain conditions and the antagonistic actions of other entities. If there are no conflicting or competing interests, there is no need for strategy. Thus, we need strategy for warfare, politics, business, fundraising, and sports, for example, but we don’t need strategy to build a bridge, perform a musical score, or decorate a house. In essence, strategy entails a contest of wills with rivals who want what we want and are willing to interfere with our aims, and we with theirs, under conditions of risk and uncertainty.
Operational readiness is the perspective through which strategy is translated into concrete plans and actions on the ground. It bridges the conceptual and organizational gaps between strategy and tactics. The key questions in operations are: How can we achieve the organization’s objectives and implement its strategy? What resources and capabilities are needed? How much time will this take? What are the sequence of events, the preliminary actions to create conditions for success, and the intended “flow” of the campaign? Not everything can be achieved at once, nor to its fullest extent. Operational leaders must therefore set priorities and assess the feasibility of various options before deciding on a definite course of action for implementation.
Tactical readiness takes the view that conditions, resources, and tasks are mostly set. You go into battle with the hand you’ve been dealt and make the best of it. There is little room for manoeuvre and limited scope to adjust missions, tasks, and goals. In military terms, once troops have been committed to action, they must achieve victory in a succession of engagements, and these cumulative successes are what lead, quickly one hopes, to the success of the strategy.
Are you in an existential struggle? Are you facing opposition, competition, and conflict? Could any of these change the course of your ultimate purpose and vision? If yes, then you’re dealing with strategic readiness. If you’re considering various courses of action, the different ways of achieving your strategic outcomes, what systems, structures, and processes are needed to be successful, then you must view the situation through the lens of operational readiness. Finally, if you’re considering the immediate actions you must take given a relatively immutable set of conditions, then you must see the situation as one of tactical readiness.
The three pillars of readiness, vigilance, preparedness, and robustness, will vary depending on whether you’re considering the situation strategically, operationally, or tactically (or a combination of these). I’ll explore these three readiness perspectives in coming Stand To‘s.
Richard Martin’s Business Readiness Process:
- Ensure vigilance through situational awareness.
- Do preliminary assessment of tasks and time.
- Activate organization or team.
- Conduct reconnaissance.
- Do detailed situational estimate.
- Conduct wargame and decide on optimal course(s) of action.
- Perform risk management and contingency planning.
- Communicate plan and issue direction.
- Build organizational robustness.
- Ensure operational continuity.
- Lead and control execution.
- Assess performance.
Contact me to apply the whole thing–or just a piece, as needed–to improve your strategy, your readiness… and your results!
Did you know that an infantry battalion only needs about 3 to 4 hours of prep and planning time to be battle ready? What are you waiting for to get the same benefits for your outfit?
Why Sunday and What Does “Stand To” Mean?
Sunday? I want you to get my insights and advice first and fast, so you can prepare and up your readiness and results before others even know what’s happening!
And Stand To? It’s the order used in the military to get forces to man the parapets and be in a heightened state of situational awareness and, yes, readiness, so they can face any threat or undertake any mission.
My name is Richard Martin and I’m an expert on applying readiness principles to position companies and leaders to grow and thrive by shaping and exploiting change and opportunity, instead of just passively succumbing to uncertainty and risk.
© 2017 Alcera Consulting Inc. This article may be used for non-commercial use with proper attribution.
