How do you prepare for life?
Suggested Reading
ADP 5-0, The Operations Process
Pages 3-1 through 3-9 based on printed document (PDF pages 55-63)
An overview of the fundamentals and priorities in preparation for the Operations Process
This week’s Study
All excerpts below are from ADP 5-0
Guided Discovery
If I always appear prepared, it is because before entering on an undertaking, I have meditated for long and have foreseen what may occur. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly and secretly what I should do in circumstances unexpected by others; it is thought and preparation.
Napoleon Bonaparte
“Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” Attributed to the Roman Seneca, I would hear this quote at my consulting firm at least once a month. It’s a business-world favorite.
Counterpoint: Allen Iverson.
Is there any larger disconnect between A) our understanding that practicing and preparing are critical to success and B) how much we try to avoid practicing and preparing?
Being prepared means committing to put in work before the actual work.
3-2. Preparation helps the force transition from planning to execution. Preparation normally begins during planning and continues into execution by uncommitted units. Like the other activities of the operations process, commanders drive preparation activities with a focus on leading and assessing. The functions of preparation include the following:
Improve situational understanding.
Develop a common understanding of the plan.
Train and become proficient on critical tasks.
Task-organize and integrate the force.
Ensure forces and resources are positioned.
That seems like far more things than just practicing.
3-4. A successful transition from planning to execution requires those charged with executing the order to understand the plan fully. … Several preparation activities help leaders develop a common understanding of the plan. Confirmation briefs, rehearsals, and the plans-to-operations transition brief help improve understanding of the concept of operations, control measures, decision points, and command and support relationships.
That seems like a lot of work.
If you are, think of yourself as, or would like to be a leader, that work is your job.
3-8. Like the other activities of the operations process, commanders drive preparation. They continue to understand, visualize, describe, direct, lead, and assess.
Preparation is not only a function of effort, but also of time.
3-9. Mission success depends as much on preparation as on planning. Higher headquarters may develop the best of plans; however, plans serve little purpose if subordinates do not receive them in time to understand them, develop their own plans, and prepare for the upcoming operation. As part of the operational timeline, commanders allocate sufficient time for preparation.
But mostly, preparation is a function of attention to detail.
3-11. Attention to detail is critical to effective preparation. Leaders monitor and supervise activities to ensure the unit is ready for the mission. Leaders supervise subordinates and inspect their personnel and equipment. Rehearsals allow leaders to assess their subordinates’ preparations. They may identify areas that require more supervision.
Like Santa, the US Army’s prescribed tool for being prepared in advance of execution is to make a checklist.
If you read the chapter in advance, you’d know that the focus of the text for preparation is almost entirely dedicated to detailing the above list of activities. The language used, as expected, is military in nature, but everything on the list has a practical, real life application at your job or in your life.
A Translated Checklist to Prepare for Anything
Coordinate and Establish Liaison
Translation: Determine who else needs to be involved and establish a dialogue.
The start of the checklist is the VERY THING that most people save until late in the planning process, or do during the beginning of execution. The very first thing on your preparation checklist should be determining who needs to know, who needs to be involved, and telling them.
Initiate Information Collection
Translation: Don’t stop trying to learn more about what you are about to be doing.
There is nothing more dangerous than assuming you have all the information you need. During preparation you should rigorously test assumptions and seek out more information.
Further, the US Army is proposing the establishment of continued collection so that the flow of information does not stop when the operation starts.
Initiate Security Operations
Translation: Wrap your ams around your team members early and determine what they need.
3-17. During preparation, the force is vulnerable to surprise and enemy attacks. Leaders are often away from their units and concentrated together during rehearsals. Parts of the force could be moving to task-organize. Required supplies may be unavailable or being repositioned.
There is a very bad tendency by leaders at all levels (and with all levels of experience) to go “heads down” in advance of a major project or operations. The inner circle draws tight. The intentions are good, but during preparations, the force is vulnerable. Generally not physically, as is a concern for the military, but emotionally, intellectually, perhaps even spiritually.
Think about your team’s (and your own) vulnerabilities and what is needed to provide security for them.
Initiate Troop Movements
Translation: Plan your route and schedule and get people moving.
We’re on the third preparation action that begins with the word ‘initiate’. It’s probably a sign incumbent to preparation is starting any actions that you can.
If you can start moving people or resources into position during preparation you should do so. It is always going to take longer than you think, so start early.
Complete Task Organization
Translation: Make sure everyone understands their roles and has time to integrate.
3-19. Task-organizing early allows affected units to become better integrated and more familiar with all elements involved. This is especially important with inherently time-consuming tasks, such as planning technical network support for the organization.
The emphasis on integration in advance of operations must be appreciated.
When has a lack of integration in advance of operations failed you or your organization, and what would you do differently in the future?
Integrate New Units and Soldiers
Translation: Do not neglect team trust and cohesion, get drunk together once.
Okay, so ADP 5-0 does not suggest group inebriation as a preparation step within the operations process. Nor am I. Except it probably should be.
Take time for people to get to know each other. Integrate on a personal level. If you can, do something social (it does not need to include drinking).
Train
Translation: Practice!
3-21. Training prepares forces and Soldiers to conduct operations according to doctrine, SOPs, and the unit’s mission. Training develops the teamwork, trust, and mutual understanding that commanders need to exercise mission command and that forces need to achieve unity of effort.
To build teamwork, trust and mutual understanding with training, you need to bring teams together, in person. Online training is sufficient for rote individual skills and almost nothing else.
Good training takes time and usually costs resources. If you can afford it, this is where you spend.
Training prepares forces, but leaders must also take the time to train on the tasks they are asking of team members.
In the military, an officer’s quality as a marksman is generally not critical to role success. For an officer, however, there is no easier way to lose the respect of those you are leading than to be a ‘bad shot.’ What’s the equivalent task in your career or life, and are you maintaining the requisite level of preparation?
Conduct Pre-Operations Checks and Inspections
Translation: Double check all your stuff.
Have a checklist within your checklist - do you have everything you need?
The lack of attention to checking your packing prior to a vacation is no different than what causes projects to get off schedule. You can always buy sunscreen for double the price when you arrive at your destination; companies (and armies) might not enjoy the same availability once an operation has begun (or find the price to be much, much higher than a cash premium).
Initiate Sustainment Preparation
Translation: Make sure you have what you need when you get hungry and thirsty.
If you have children, you understand the importance of always having snacks and drinks on hand.
Adults are not any different.
Initiate Network Preparations
Translation: Put the critical names and numbers in your contact list.
The worst time to ask ‘do you have so-and-so’s number’ is when you absolutely need it.
I cringe when I think about needing to go back to an email to find a telephone number in a moment of panic.
Collecting contact information right away eliminates the eventual freak-out, but it also might prompt you to reach out by voice sooner. Which, in almost every situation, you should have reached out by voice sooner.
Manage Terrain
Translation: Make a map, whiteboard things out.
The act of sketching out what the operation is going to look like helps highlight issues in advance.
3-25. Through terrain management, commanders identify and locate units in the area. The operations officer, with support from others in the staff, can then de-conflict operations, control movements, and deter fratricide as units get in position to execute planned missions.
Presumably you are not concerned with fratricide in your line of work, but reflect honestly: how often do multiple teams think they are doing the same thing?
One of the easiest tricks for consultants to use to gain the attention of executives is to make a map of a company’s overlapping areas of operations.
Prepare Terrain
Translation: Influence in advance anything you can.
3-26. Commanders must understand the terrain and the infrastructure of their AO as early as possible to identify potential for improvement, establish priorities of work, and begin preparing the area. Terrain preparation involves shaping the terrain to gain an advantage, such as building fighting and protective positions, improving cover and concealment, and reinforcing obstacles.
People perform better when they’ve had a chance to settle into position. The point here is to do whatever is possible to establish home field advantage, even if you are not on your own turf.
Conduct Confirmation Briefs
Translation: Make everyone say the plan out loud.
Make leaders say the plan out loud, in their own words. It is as simple as that. Do people find this activity irritating? Usually. Does it uncover problems and provide an immediate forum for resolution? Always.
Conduct Rehearsals
Translation: Seriously, conduct rehearsals.
3-28. Effective rehearsals imprint a mental picture of the sequence of the operation’s key actions and improve mutual understanding among subordinate and supporting units and leaders.
Whether it is a complicated and formal practice-run or a verbal walkthrough, do something to rehearse.
Rehearsals are typically considered the final thing to do prior to the start of a project or presentation. Thus, when preparation timelines go off schedule, the rehearsal is the activity that gets cut for time.
Backwards plan to the rehearsal, not to the start of the operation.
Conduct Plans-to-Operations Transition
Translation: Be deliberate (and formal) in how you get started.
Be in control of the transition and the start. First impressions matter.
For the military, this means having a structured transition plan to move team members between different planning and execution cells.
In business, this could be establishing a team to manage execution, but it could be something as simple as delineating tasks between who is continuing to plan and who is responsible for execution. This delineation is often skipped, confusing team members involved in planning as well as those taking instruction.
Revise and Refine the Plan
Translation: Do not stop planning.
Recall: planning is a continuous learning activity.
Supervise
Translation: The leader is responsible. Unprepared teams are the leader’s fault.
Preparation is doing the work before the work begins.
What will you do differently the next time the expectation is to be prepared?
How do you prepare for your life?
Questions for Individual Reflection
Can over-preparation create blind spots in decision-making? Why or why not?
How do you distinguish between preparing to succeed and preparing to avoid failure?
What are the hidden costs of preparation, and when do they outweigh the benefits?
How does the illusion of being prepared differ from actual readiness?
What role does intuition play in preparation, and can it ever replace deliberate planning?
Professional Discussion Prompts
How does preparation impact corporate culture—does it create complacency or drive innovation?
How do you recognize when preparation has crossed into unnecessary complexity?
How do different industries define and measure the effectiveness of preparation?
Should leaders focus more on preparing their teams or on preparing themselves?
Can true preparedness exist in highly unpredictable markets? Why or why not?
Personal Discussion Prompts
How does your approach to preparation in business differ from your approach in personal relationships? Why?
Have you ever regretted being unprepared for a major life event? What did you learn?
How does fear influence the way you prepare for significant challenges?
Can excessive preparation in personal life lead to missed opportunities? Why or why not?
How do you balance spontaneity with preparation in major life decisions?
Exercises
Preparation Trade-Offs Debate
Exercise:
Half the team argues that preparation is essential for leadership success, the other half argues that adaptability is more critical.
Teams present their cases, then switch perspectives and argue the opposite.
Debrief:
How does reframing an argument change one's stance?
What biases were revealed?
The "Good Enough" Preparation Test
Exercise:
Teams review a past business failure and identify whether it was due to lack of preparation or other factors.
They then create a framework for determining when preparation is "good enough."
Debrief:
How do leaders know when to stop preparing and take action?
What factors besides preparation contributed to the outcome?
Feel free to borrow this with pride and use with your teams, professionally or personally. If you do, please let me know how it went and tips for improvement: matt @ borrowingwithpride.com