INTRODUCTION:
The Marine Corp Planning Process (MCPP) is in some ways a capstone on my earlier articles*. In some ways it is extraneous to them. If you are doing planning at a level lower than a battalion (an organization of more than 500 people), you develop your plan using all the previous tools more or [...]
Introduction
Any organization in the Marine Corps has (or is supposed to have) a “Mission-Essential Task List” (METL) that outlines the abilities they need to be able to do to accomplish their mission. This article will introduce the concept of METL, talk about how you can create a METL for your business, and discuss some [...]
Since at least the time of Sun Tzu, military authors have been trying to distill and codify general principles of war. …
The acronym stands for: Mass, Objective, Offensive, Security, Economy, Manuever, Unity of Command, Simplicity, & Surprise and is as useful for the business world as for the military. Now let’s take a closer look at each one…
A friend and advisor of mine tipped me off to this tidbit from Harvard Business School:
SEPTEMBER 1, 2009
3 Things You Didn’t Know About Marine Corps Leadership
Most people assume the U.S. Marine Corps is a rank-and-file organization where officers have power and soldiers obey orders. In fact, the Marine Corps is a highly effective organization that [...]
On Wednesday I led a breakout session on leadership for the Portland Managing Projects and Programs conference. The discussion was built around the 11 Principles of Leadership used by the Marine Corps. There was a great deal of interesting discussion during the session. The intent of this article is to augment rather [...]
Greetings. Wow! Things are hectic. Between some marketing work, Toastmaster duties, and an upcoming conference, we’re into a new week!
I’ll be at a PMI conference this Wednesday (link), where I’ll be leading a breakout group on Principles of Leadership. The Leadership Principles are closely linked to the Leadership Traits, [...]
Not everything you do at work is project-oriented; everything doesn’t have a beginning, middle, and end. Some things are ongoing and require your attention every day. Sometimes a management task doesn’t lend itself to an involved process. At times like that, it is helpful to have a “yardstick” handy, a maxim that [...]
Earlier, I talked about how Commander’s Intent, a part of the Five Paragraph Order, that can help you motivate your employees and foster initiative and teamwork. Today we’re going to be taking a closer look at the rest of the Five Paragraph Order.
The Five Paragraph Order, or O-SMEAC, breaks a plan of action down [...]
Hi.
The posting shedule slipped a bit. Sorry. We’ll get back on track with two articles this week. A couple opportunities presented themselves that I needed to take advantage of. The good news is: here’s where we get into some meaty content. Today I’m going to be talking about management by intent–a military leadership technique that [...]
Don’t Forget About Competitive Advantage
