Chapter 3

The Elements of Maneuver Warfare

The concepts of maneuver warfare, while valuable individually, are most powerful when applied in an integrated fashion.

Targeting Critical Vulnerabilities: Analyze and probe rivals with the aim of identifying and rapidly exploiting those weaknesses that will most effectively undermine their competitive position.

Boldness: Take calculated risks that have the potential to achieve major, market-shifting results.

Surprise: Use stealth, ambiguity, and deception to degrade the quality of information available to competitors and impair their ability to deploy resources efficiently .

Focus: Bring overwhelming resources to bear at critical points and times to capitalize on key market opportunities.

Decentralized Decision Making: Push decision-making authority to those who are closest to the point of decision and who possess superior local information. Align these individual decisions by communicating commander s intent ”or final result desired ”throughout the organization.

Tempo: Identify opportunities, make decisions, and implement plans faster than competitors do to seize the initiative and force them into a constant state of reaction.

Combined Arms: Look for ways to combine complementary resources in a manner that increases their collective effectiveness and places competitors on the horns of a dilemma.