War Gaming for Business
By
Andrew Fortunato
Your company is in an intense competition every day. The battle to capture market share, gain new
customers, and outmaneuver competitors, at times can be a fight for the very survival
of your company. This is serious
business to be sure. Though the
consequences can be devastating, many companies routinely fail to consider the
competition when creating new products, and launching new strategy. When creating strategy and creating strategic
plans, one tried and true method used by the Marines is slowly finding its way
into the business world.
The practice of war gaming is currently a topic of
discussion in the McKinsey Quarterly article, “Battle-test your innovation strategy”. War gaming allows your company to avoid group
think and stove-piping. Involving all
functional areas within an organization creates alignment and ensures readiness
to move forward as one organized team.
Taking into account how the market and competitors will react allows a
company to plan ahead and have their next move ready. Planning for competitive reactions and
knowing what to do two steps ahead of time is a strategy that can propel a
company to a market leadership.
War gaming important scenarios is how the Marines plan for contingencies and develop back-up plans. Knowing what to do next avoids knee jerk reactions to unanticipated change. While war gaming has been engrained as a highly successful long standing process by the Marines, the process is only now being discovered by the corporate world. War gaming is a practice I have helped introduce into the business planning process in several organizations. War gaming can make an organization more efficient, agile, and competitive. So, how are you planning for your next product launch, or innovative change to the market? Don’t let your innovation strategy suffer from failing to anticipate competitive reaction.
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About the author: Andrew Fortunato, http://www.linkedin.com/in/AndrewFortunato, former Marketing Chief for the Marines, CMO, consultant, and
speaker, advises and leads organizations seeking marketing and operational
success. Andrew shares insights in-person and on his “What Can Your Brand Learn
From The Marines?TM” blog at http://marinesbrand.blogspot.com.
Copyright © Andrew Fortunato, 2012
