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Years ago, I collaborated with a group of officers in what is now known @TheCompanyLeader as the “7 Leader Questions.” The questions were the fundamental interrogatives that any tactical leader should constantly be scrolling through whilst planning or fighting. 1/9 #MilTwitter
2/9: This thread offers general staff officers a similar series of interrogatives. Unlike the 7LQ, these are not all fundemental. The fundemental questions on a general staff are usually easy. These questions rather, are those that most frequently beguile actos and planners.
3/9: Are we developing a plan, options, an assessment, or what? This is usually your leading question after a senior leader vaguely states, “come back to me with your thoughts on x.” Use your savvy colonels or brigadiers to divine the task, and don’t start with a slide deck.
4/9: What are the authorities? The joint force does not do a great job of making authorities easy to understand, whether they be COMREL, funding, logistical, or ROE. This much is clear, planning authorities should not be outsourced to the JA. This is an ops problem. @ArmyJAG
5/9: What is the COMREL? Yes, an authority, but the most vexing one. The problem is not getting the relationship between two nodes right. The problem is the aggregate COMREL and horizontal COMREL. Start building from the point(s) where nodes compete for scarce ways & means.
6/9: Are we too tactical, too strategic? Plans, options, and assessments explore politically sensitive space. This however does not turn the general staff into a numbered task force or into the National Security Council. Remember who you are and who you serve. diMe
7/9: Who gets to decide? Plans & options normally include decisions. Amidst politically charged competition short of war, it is tempting to default all decisions to the commander. This is lazy. With sound logic and advocacy, planners can get many decisions delegated down.
8/9: Do I speak up? Advocating for a concept will likely earn you a front row seat to senior leader discussions that seem less informed than your working group. 8 out of 10 times in these scenarios, I did not speak up and regretted it. The other two times I did…and regretted it.
9/9: How do I answer that general’s question? Three techniques: 1. Answer precisely what was asked, nothing more. You’d be shocked. 2. Don’t answer it. 3. If it’s the wrong question, say so, and offer a diagnostic answer – how to think about the problem, not what to think.
