Chapter 11: Reconnaissance Pull


Overview

Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish.

”Dwight D. Eisenhower [1]

While each of the preceding seven principles represents a valuable concept on its own, maneuver warfare is most effective when targeting critical vulnerabilities, boldness, surprise, focus, decentralized decision making, tempo, and combined arms are employed together ”either in subsets or as an integrated whole. In this chapter we feature the employment of a subset of these principles.

Perhaps the most compelling subset we have observed is reconnaissance pull , a real-time response to opportunity, whereby an individual identifies an opening, orients the greater organization toward it, and assumes a leadership role in planning and executing its exploitation. Reconnaissance pull encompasses four of maneuver warfare s seven principles ”decentralized decision making, targeting critical vulnerabilities, tempo, and focus. Decentralized decision making is the first component: the leader of the organization must entrust highly skilled scouts with considerable authority to decide when and where to exploit opportunities. Targeting critical vulnerabilities is the second: a scout may identify an environmental shift or a rival s critical vulnerability and then immediately initiate an effort to exploit it. Tempo is the third: a timely response to the identification of an opportunity requires rapid decision making on the part of the leader. And focus is the fourth: a scout can locate an opportunity and lead the larger organization to it, but the leader must be willing to commit maximum available resources to the exploitation of the opportunity at hand.

In this chapter we offer two examples of reconnaissance pull and its key components , as well as present-day lessons from the Marines. From warfare we recount the Marine Corps s amphibious landing and decisive victory at Tinian during the storied Pacific Island-Hopping campaign of World War II. From business we feature the instrumental role that Richard A. Hackborn played in conceiving and building Hewlett Packard s printer business in the early 1980s.

The Marines have institutionalized the process of reconnaissance pull. Based on the techniques they employ and on some of the lessons learned from our two historical examples, we will recommend ways in which you can encourage frontline employees to orient your organization toward valuable opportunities by fostering a flexible, decentralized culture, investing in personnel training, and developing information and human intelligence support systems.

[1] www.cyberquotations.com.




The Marine Corps Way. Using Maneuver Warfare to Lead a Winning Organization
The Marine Corps Way: Using Maneuver Warfare to Lead a Winning Organization
ISBN: 0071458832
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 145

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