COMPETITIVE SUCCESS

Singh’s manual offers a blueprint for taking corporate strategizing to the next level.

Drawing on his 25 years as a business consultant, Singh lays out his view of incorporating “war gaming” into the world of corporate decision-making, contrasting this approach with the normal ways that companies tend to evolve. As opposed to those regular, plodding ways, war gaming is a “360-degree external assessment” of a corporation’s needs. Instead of the typical inward-directed analyses many businesses tend to use, “War gaming gives you an understanding of your external environment: your customers and their value drivers; your competition and, even better, all the other stakeholders in your marketplace (regulatory government agencies, supply chains) which are usually ignored in traditional planning.” War gaming is about far more than simply going along with the crowd or conducting business as usual, Singh asserts; it’s about doing, not just thinking about acting, and therefore becomes an effective tool for dealing with situations when normal strategizing doesn’t work. Singh provides a detailed overview for developing the strategic element of war gaming (What will an industry look like in the short and long term?), the operational facet (How do corporate leaders define the game they’re playing?), and the tactical component (What product capabilities and plans are in place?). While the author illustrates these concepts with plenty of numbered points and graphics, the book’s main strength is his vividly straightforward prose, tempered by his own experiences and full of examples involving famous companies such as Boeing and Facebook. He’s very clear on the advantages of war gaming, and he delivers insights into tactics that will be strong enough to handle the changes normal strategies can’t predict. The best approach, Singh tells readers, is to respect the competition: “Winning isn’t about having the most resources; it’s about resourcefulness.” He advocates forming a “Briefing Book” for these kinds of war games, and his own manual will serve quite well in that role for corporate leaders.

A clear, valuable, and vigorous guide to making battle-worthy business plans.