Transform Military Strategy into Daily Success: Master the 16 Steps | Scott McCarthy | Episode 314

Scott McCarthy [00:00:08]:
Welcome 1. Welcome all to the Peak Performance Leadership Podcast. A weekly podcast series dedicated to helping you hit peak performance across the three domains of leadership. Those being leading yourself, leading your team, and leading your organization. This podcast couples my 20 years of military experience as a senior Canadian army officer with world class guests, bringing you the most complete podcast of leadership going. And for more, feel free to check out our website at movingforwardleadership.com. And with that, let’s get to the show.

Scott McCarthy [00:00:55]:
Yes, it is your chief leadership officer, Scott McCarthy and welcome one. Welcome all to the peak performance leadership podcast for this week’s installment of Monday military leadership insights where I take my 23 years and counting a military service and turn it into leadership lessons for you. And this week, we’re gonna dive into something super tactical tactile. And that is, I’m going to take the 16 steps of battle procedure and turn that into something you can actually use in the real world. That’s right. We’re talking about how we get orders to how we plan, and then execute, and after how we execute and how you can actually take that and use it in your day to day lives. So first steps first, let’s go through the 16 steps, shall we? And the 16 steps are this, receive warning order, quick time appreciation, quick map appreciation. We’re going to receive orders.

Scott McCarthy [00:02:04]:
We’re going to conduct a mission analysis. We’re going to issue a warning order. We’re going to do a detailed time analysis. We’re gonna do a detailed map study. We’re gonna conduct a recce plan and actually conduct the recce. We’re gonna complete our plan. We’re gonna back brief our boss, our supervisor. We’re gonna issue supplementary warning orders.

Scott McCarthy [00:02:29]:
We’re going to prepare and issue our actual orders, coordinate activities and the requirements of our subordinates, supervise the deployment, execute the mission, and then conduct an after action review. So in there, there was a lot of army jargon. No doubt. And if you’re lost, don’t worry. I’m going to break these down and put them into relatable terms for you. So, let’s dive in. Step 1, receive warning order. And what’s basically happening here is is that our our superior, our higher headquarters is going, hey, I’m going to have to get you to do something in the near future.

Scott McCarthy [00:03:14]:
We’re not a 100% sure exactly what that is just yet, but it’s gonna be around this area. So in the real world, what that would be would be like, hey, we have this project coming down and we need to be able to execute it for the next quarter, or we have this upcoming big client that we’re going to be hosting and we need you to take care of them. Okay? Think of those terms. It’s just like, hey, something’s coming. We’re not sure how this is going to pan out yet, but we’re working on it. So when you hear that, the first thing you’re gonna do is like, okay, well, how much time do I have? That’s your quick time appreciation, like how much time? Are we talking end of the quarter, so we got 3 months? Okay. That’s different. Oh, the client’s coming tomorrow? That’s a really different case.

Scott McCarthy [00:04:04]:
Okay. So quick time, I’m just gonna quickly look what time is it now, when do we expect to have to do whatever it is that our boss or superior is giving or giving us a heads up to. The next thing is a quick map. Now, obviously, your quick map breccie or study isn’t, you know, isn’t going to work here. So, see if what we’re talking about is a project. Okay? But, you can use this principle still and what we’re going to do instead of a map study is basically resources lay down study. You’re going to look and say okay. Where are we? Where where is where do we want to go? Okay.

Scott McCarthy [00:04:49]:
Physically, they’re coming. Okay? The client is coming. Okay. They’re going to come here. No big deal. Do we, you know, do we need a conference room? Do we need a office room? Are we going to take them for lunch? What have you? The project again is like, okay. Are we launching the project here? Is it off-site? K. Do we have space for this project? What is it that we need? The next thing is is receive orders.

Scott McCarthy [00:05:14]:
Now this is this is it. This is when our superior has figured their stuff out and they know exactly what it is they want us to do. So in the real world, it’s the same thing. Like, okay, boss. You gave me a heads up on this, but like I need detailed direction now. Okay? You know, and be open and honest and ask questions. You need to be able to ask questions through this process. So who, what, why, when, where, how.

Scott McCarthy [00:05:45]:
Okay? I’ve always tried to avoid stating the how, but sometimes you need to ask, you know, the how question of, okay, how do you want this to unfold? Alright. How would you like the person to be treated? How would you like the pro the project to unfold? What have you? But the moral of the story is it’s not the detailed how you’re going to do as in be micromanaged, but reality is what you’re looking for here is the overarching vision of what your superior has. So think about, you know, receiving those orders, receiving detailed direction from your superior on whatever it is they want you to achieve. And now we go into mission analysis and ultimately what mission analysis is is it’s problem definition. So what happens with too many leaders out there is that they get a task to get given a project and immediately jump into what we refer to as options analysis looking for solutions, but the thing is you actually have to define your problem first. What is it that we’re actually trying to achieve? So with this client coming, what is it? What’s the goal that you’re looking for? Are you trying to impress them? Okay. Cool. If you’re trying to impress them, you’re gonna bring out all the big banners, you know, the fanfare what have you, but maybe you’re trying to show them that your people are super busy.

Scott McCarthy [00:07:19]:
They’re diligent. So instead of bringing all the fanfare and everyone being available, maybe you only have a couple people available because everyone else is too busy. So you have to define the problem for the project. You know what is it that you’re trying to achieve? Because if you just jump down the rabbit hole of options, you could likely end up with the wrong option. So keep that in mind. You want to define your true problem. The next thing you want to do is issue your warning order. So like you got a heads up, now you’re gonna give your team a heads up like, hey, folks, we’re going to have to do this most likely upcoming.

Scott McCarthy [00:08:02]:
Alright? Hey, we got a project that’s coming down the pipeline we’re gonna have to work on, and we’re looking at, you know, achieving this thing. Or we have this big client coming, and we need people to be, you know, either you need to start clearing your schedules or in fact, we don’t want you to clear your schedules, we want you to actually be busy, so pack your schedules. Okay? The moral story is you have to give them heads up. Next step is detailed time appreciation. What we’re trying to do is we’re trying to make sure that we have enough time to achieve the task that we’ve been given overarching. So we start from the back and we’ll work our way forward. Back and work our way to current time. We’re looking at okay.

Scott McCarthy [00:08:45]:
Do we have enough time to achieve each of the individual steps required? And the same thing, you know. And what time does the guest prepare to plan to leave? What time do they plan on showing up? Do we have enough time in between those two times to show them the things or have meetings or what have you on what it is we’re trying to achieve back to that problem definition. Okay. In the project space, you know, do we have enough time to go through our studies, our analysis, determine what our actual requirements are, do the do the trial period, do the bids evaluation, go and issue the contract, have goods on the ground, established, installed based on you know the end date of which we’ve been given. This is your detailed time appreciation. The next step is the detailed map. Okay. And this is where we really get into nitty gritty of operations of looking at very specific things, you know, the ground, the terrain as in terms of elevation changes, main bodies of water, for example, we want to avoid those.

Scott McCarthy [00:09:59]:
From my standpoint, like major airports, seaports, major installations, we’re gonna look at and dive into these things. Now, that isn’t going to be the case for you most likely, but what could be the case is that you’re going to look at your very specific facilities and look at and see, okay, is there enough space for this project that we’re trying to buy? What limitations do we have? What are the structural limitations? So, for example, a project which I worked on in the past, this wasn’t done. This detailed map study wasn’t done. Or if you think about it, you know, detailed, you know, facility study, alright, in this case, wasn’t done. So the concrete was not strong enough to hold the piece of equipment that was going to be installed. Okay? Electrical wasn’t done. It wasn’t there. It’s gonna take a long time to actually get set up.

Scott McCarthy [00:11:02]:
The connectivity to the piece of equipment to our network was going to take more time than anticipated. These are all those detailed map recies that you need to do, a map analysis, or in your case, facilities, tangible goods. I don’t care. Pick a name for it, but you get the idea. You’re going to start asking these questions and actually look into And then finally, the next step, step 10, is you’re going to, you know, determine what it is that you need exactly, and you’re going to develop a plan. You’re going to look at different options and weigh those options against each other. Okay? Because going all in on one option is never a good thing. You need to look at multiple options and engage multiple stakeholders in those different options to figure out their pluses and their minuses and which ones actually work.

Scott McCarthy [00:11:56]:
And then you’re going to develop a plan. Okay? This is the one we’re going to go after. This is how we’re going to achieve it. And you’re going to give that plan back to your superior and say, hey, this is how we envision this occurring. Alright. Step 1, step 2, step 3, final outcome is this, keeping in mind your desired end state, where it is you want to end up at the end of this. K? Step 11 is issue supplementary or detailed warning order. So what we’re doing now is is our boss has signed off on our plan.

Scott McCarthy [00:12:30]:
We’re gonna give a much as much heads up as we can to our subordinates. Like, yep. The boss is good to go with the plan for the visit. You know? Everyone fill your calendar. Make confirm all those appointments in your calendar because we wanna show that visit. We are busy here. Alright? Or we are going to remove all those appointments or we’re going we’re going down this rabbit hole of this project, and we’re good to go, so start engaging defenders. The next thing is prepared, issue your orders.

Scott McCarthy [00:13:03]:
This is where you get super detailed nitty gritty with your team. Alright? And basically this is where you sit down and have a coordination meeting with your team on every aspect of that task, that project, what have you. Okay? In the real world, you may have to do this multiple times and this is reality is this is step 13 and that is coordinate activities and requirements of your subordinates. So you’re gonna have maybe multiple meetings. Alright? Especially if it’s a long term thing such as that project, that quarterly project. Okay? But regardless is is that you’re going to coordinate. You’re going to give detailed direction, enable them to ask questions and coordinate, coordinate, coordinate. Step 14, supervise.

Scott McCarthy [00:13:52]:
Give them their arcs, tell them where they go and you guide the train or the plane as it flies in the air. Okay. Alright. So you want to make sure everyone has the resources that they need. You make sure that they have the direction that they need. Make sure that they’re there at the right place at the right time. And you’re going to execute that task, whatever it is, whether that’s the visit, whether that’s the project, you’re going to get after it. And if it’s a longer term thing, you’re going to supervise that execution just like you supervise the deployment.

Scott McCarthy [00:14:28]:
And then the final step, which is something I’ve talked about here on the podcast many times is the after action review. Looking at okay what went what happened from everybody’s perspective. What went right and how might we double down on it. What went wrong and how might we mitigate it for the future? Okay. 3 very simple questions, but when done right this is a powerful tool so that you can learn the mistakes that you’ve made and also uncover the good things that you did through the execution of whatever this task is. And then the final thing which isn’t necessarily a step in here, but the question which you need to keep in the back your mind at all times, and that question is, has the situation changed? This is a scary question. Many leaders don’t like asking this question because they don’t want to hear the answer to it, but the reality is is that you need to be consistently asking yourself this question has the situation changed and the answer is no carry on but the answer is yes the answer is yes then we need to go back to square 1. Alright.

Scott McCarthy [00:15:50]:
We need to reevaluate it all because the situation has changed. And what was once legitimate and real may longer be the case. So as a leader, don’t find yourself with your head in the sand, but rather pull your head out. Sure you’re aware you have situational awareness and you are driving your team forward for that success. And that is it for this week’s Monday military leadership insight ladies and gentlemen. Hope this makes sense to you. You take these 16 steps you dap them for your needs and execute and lead. Don’t boss.

Scott McCarthy [00:16:34]:
Till next time. Take care now.

Scott McCarthy [00:16:42]:
And that’s a wrap for this episode, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for listening. Thank you for supporting the Peak Performance Leadership podcast. But you know what you could do to truly support the podcast? And no, that’s not leaving a rating and review. It’s simply helping a friend, and that is helping a friend by sharing this episode with them if you think this would resonate with them and help them elevate their performance level, whether that’s within themselves, their teams, or their organization. So do that. Help me, help a friend win win all around, and hey, you look like a great friend at the same time. So just hit that little share button on your app, and then feel free to fire this episode to anyone that you feel would benefit from it.

Scott McCarthy [00:17:32]:
Finally, there’s always more. There’s always more lessons around being the highest performing leader that you can possibly be, whether that’s for yourself, your team, or your organization. So why don’t you subscribe? Subscribe to the show via movingforwardleadership.comforward/subscribe. Until next time, lead, Don’t boss. And thanks for coming out. Take care now.