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Early in my career as a Marine I remember sitting out passing time between training evolutions under the winter sun of the Mojave desert playing a game common for young Marines. We picked famous battles from history (Marathon, Thermopylae, Gettysburg) and debated what weapon a modern Marine could bring to that battle to most influence the outcome.

There were parameters to the thought experiment, it had to be something a Marine rifle squad (our job) had at their disposal (no F-35s).

I specifically remember sitting in a group of young Marines who, myself included, had yet to see combat debating what we would bring to the Battle of Gettysburg. As you might expect we threw out different weapons and explosives debating the relative merits of each.

A Sergeant with multiple combat deployments under his belt who overheard our conversation chimed in, “How about a pair of radios?”

We all nervously laughed before getting very quiet both in reverence for the gap between his experience and our own but also because he was, of course, right.

The point he was making, and the lesson he was trying to teach us, is that on the battlefield there is no greater force multiplier than effective communication.

The same is true in business.

Long time subscribers to this newsletter know that we’ve talked about communication before but in today’s newsletter we’ll review why a well articulated end state will equip your team to succeed amidst competition and change.

Lead through influence by clearly defining your desired end state

In our discussion of Codes, Creeds, and Manifestos I talked about leading through influence:

When I chatted with some of you about that post you mentioned this specific portion resonated, but there’s an open question. How do you lead through influence?

Communicate well.

At a high level, leading through influence means clearly articulating to your team the intent (why) and desired end state (deliverable) of any project or initiative. If you do this well, you can step away and allow your team to execute as they see fit.

While I love a good process as much as the next person (and write about them often), the end state is the aim. Be clear on what winning looks like.

Equip your team with the clarity of your vision, then let them do great work.

When you can develop a process for a repeatable set of tasks do it, but any high performing team is one that is able to improvise when needed. You facilitate the ability of your team to improvise by being clear about your desired end state.

There are 2 reasons why leaders need to equip their teams with the ability to improvise:

1. Competition

2. Change

Competition

From a recent Packy McCormick article on Strategy:

The, “dynamic markets” component of Packy’s quote is the one that reminds me both of my time in the Marines as well as in Sales. If you’re writing a decision tree to route new customers based on the product tier they signed up for be as prescriptive as possible with your if / then statements. If you exist in a role where you’re dealing with human beings as counterparties (e.g. in Sales) improvisation is required.

You can help your team improvise by being clear about your desired end state. Remember Nike from the other week, "Perfect results count -- not a perfect process."

Change

One of my favorite statistics I used to quote with customers during my time in sales at Google is that ~20% of Google Search queries in any given year are brand new. Change is constant.

When was the first time you heard the term, “Generative AI” or “ChatGPT”?

Did any leader think when they started 2020 that by the end of the first quarter a significant portion, if not the majority, of their team would be working from home?

As General Eisenhower famously said, “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

A leaders job isn’t to fight change, it’s to embrace it. To win despite, and if you’re really good because of, your team’s ability to succeed through changing times.

This is why improvisation matters.

This is why to lead a successful team you need to be crystal clear about your desired end state. If you can’t articulate what winning looks like do not send your team out to begin the work. Go back to the drawing board and define success.

If you’ve hired and trained your team well this is all they need to win.

Conclusion

While clearly articulating your end state will allow your team to improvise successfully, do not take any of the above as an excuse to avoid hiring great people and training them well. The reason leaders in the Marine Corps can clearly articulate their end state and then unleash their teams to execute and win is because they’ve screened (hired) for high performing individuals and then trained relentlessly.

There is a Standard Operating Procedure for everything from the way to call for air support to the way you zip your backpack (both zippers meet at the top to reduce the distance a zipper needs to travel in order to retrieve something from the main compartment, more efficient and quieter at night).

It is the combination of competent individuals trained rigorously coupled with a well defined end state that allows your team to be successful.

Hire and screen for talented people, teach them how to win, define for them what winning looks like, step out of the way and let them get to work.