Strategic Minds Battle-Tested Strategy: Lessons from a Four-Star General
What military strategies and tactics can business leaders leverage to position their companies for success?
In this episode, Rich sits down with four-star General Robert Brown, President and CEO of the Association of the United States Army. General Brown is an experienced commander who has led at every level, from platoon through Army Service Component Command, leading a group of over 100,000 soldiers.
In this conversation, he discusses military strategy and best practices for navigating the modern Fog of War, sharing his insights on red teaming, after action reviews, and leadership principles.
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Key Quotes:“Too much information has become the fog of war. It used to be not enough. Now it's too much… Now you've got to look through haystacks of information, thousands of haystacks of information, to try to find that golden needle in the haystack that will help you make a decision.”
“ I've seen somebody say to me: ‘Here’s my strategy, it’s 15 pages.’ And it's like, hey, it's gonna fail, You might as well stop. Start again. Can't be 15. Nobody's gonna read it.”
“ The key is creating a learning environment where people want to learn and that after action review helps you learn and overcome those issues that may be buried if you didn't pull them out. It's like pulling a band aid off. You can't be thin skinned. Sometimes it's tough.”
Practice Makes Profit: Increasing team velocity through a decision inventory.
League of Strategic Minds [listener question]: What's the best way to tell if someone is strategic?
Winsights: Ideas for Advantage: Sun Tzu, the Chinese general and philosopher, wrote, “Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances.” Are you and your team repeating the same tactics year after year and expecting some type of miraculous change? Carve out time to think strategically about the changes in your market and with your customers. Stop procrastinating and start innovating.
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Time stamps:(00:00) Deep Dive Interview with General Brown
(54:57) Practice Makes Profit
(56:17) League of Strategic Minds
(57:31) Winsights, Ideas for Advantage
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Links:
General Brown on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-brooks-brown-1981usma/
AUSA.org: https://www.ausa.org/
Strategic Quotients Assessment: https://www.strategyskills.com/strategic-quotient-assessment/
Rich Horwath on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richhorwath/
Rich Horwath on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RichHorwath
Rich Horwath on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richhorwathceo/
Strategic Thinking Institute Website: https://www.strategyskills.com/
Inc. Magazine’s Top 4 book for 2024: STRATEGIC Book: https://www.amazon.com/Strategic-Direction-Advantage-Executive-Excellence/dp/1394215339
New executive development platform: Strategic Fitness System: http://www.Strategic-Fitness-System.com
Sign up for Rich’s free Strategic Thinker Newsletter: https://www.strategyskills.com/subscribe/
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: https://open.spotify.com/show/57wbZTtLJhznc4OBCe0OE6?si=c2c74bbb9b4340e0&nd=1&dlsi=f9d56ce5aafd4941