Wargaming for Leaders: Strategic Decision Making from the Battlefield to the Boardroom

by Mark D. Frost, Mark L. Herman, Robert Kurz

Overview

If you had the opportunity to probe the future, make strategic choices, and view their consequences before making expensive and irretrievable decisions, wouldn't you take advantage of it?

Of course you would. And in a world of asymmetrical conflict, security threats, intense global competition, and economic uncertainty, there is an even higher premium on road-testing plans and strategies—whether they're spearheaded by government organizations, transnational corporations, or emerging megacommunities.

Wargaming for Leaders provides a methodology to get at the issues that one leader, no matter how visionary, cannot grasp on his or her own. How? By bringing together the real experts on the topic at hand to wage “cognitive warfare.” Through tapping the collective wisdom surrounding an issue, experts can experience the future in a risk-free environment and find answers to questions that had not been on their radar—often with unexpected and startling results.

With examples from the fields of military, corporate, and public policy, three wargaming developers from Booz Allen Hamilton deliver compelling insights on this problem-solving method, including fascinating details on how

• A large equipment manufacturer determined whether making a merger was strategically right for its business growth, as well as which technology investments it needed to drop
• A four-star U.S. general tested his war plan for Iraq and uncovered specific fixes that might have prevented a prolonged conflict
• An increasingly clogged air-traffic system faced a security-versus-convenience issue determined whether military airspace could be used during peak demand periods

Wargaming allows organizations of every type and every size to organize information, plot out scenarios, and tap into the collective expertise of participants. The results allow everyone to identify and tackle obstacles, solve problems, and find new ways to innovate and further performance goals.

Get ready for the battle of your organizational life—and prepare to reap the spoils of victory.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780071596886
Publisher:	McGraw Hill LLC
Publication date:	11/13/2008
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Mark Herman is a vice president of Booz Allen Hamilton, specializing in the research, design, and staging of wargames for the government and private sector. He is the author and designer of more than 50 commercial wargames.
Mark Frost, a principal at Booz Allen Hamilton, leads the firm's work in wargaming for the commercial and civil sectors, and megacommunities.
Robert Kurz, a principal at Booz Allen Hamilton, specializes in strategy, analysis, and wargaming.

What People are Saying About This

Michael McConnell

"Wargaming, once only a discipline used in military preparation, has emerged as a driving force in shaping strategies in corporate boardrooms. Any leader in either government or business will benefit greatly from this book and understanding the potential of wargaming in their own decision making."--(Michael McConnell, Director of National Intelligence, United States)

Anthony Zinni

"As a warfighter and a military commander, I know the importance of using wargames to test strategies and plans before risking blood and treasure. The authors of Wargaming for Leaders tell the inside story of how wargames can help decision makers achieve success and avoid the pain of failure."--(General (Ret.) Anthony Zinni, former Commander of U.S. Central Command)

Bill Richardson

"Fascinating stuff. These wargaming techniques allow participants to develop scenarios that can lead to unexpected and remarkable outcomes. The wargames described in this book, particularly those on national security and energy issues, often suggest a future no one could have imagined in advance. Public policymakers should take note."--(-New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former U.S. Secretary of Energy)

Newt Gingrich

"Over the past several years, I have personally participated in several wargames to find solutions to the health challenges facing our country. These simulations can accomplish in a day or two the kind of practical problem solving and consensus building that too often takes months or even years. If your organization hasn't put these methods to work, you should."--(Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, founder of the Center for Health Transformation)