Analysis Of The Book ' Wargaming For Leaders '

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The book “Wargaming for Leaders” teaches, we as current or future leaders the art of simulation which can play a vital role in developing a strategy for success. Without a thorough plan and a means to test this plan, the individual leader has only presumptions and theory to guide his decision. With the use of simulation, the organization can test differing strategies and they can reduce the chance of a bad outcome. The text begins by examining a series of wargames developed for the military and the federal government to determine the best options for growing problems around the world (Mark Herman). Additionally, the ground work is placed to outline the goals which are expected by the client. The developers of the simulation begin by finding, with the greatest precision possible, what goals the client plays to achieve (Mark Herman). Moreover, the developers ask a number of questions, to include, is the client needing confirmation of an existing strategy, are they looking for potential weaknesses in their operation, are they looking to develop a new product, and the client needs validation to move forward with the introduction (Mark Herman). If during the test a fundamental weakness or an unforeseen problem arises the methodology is reworked and the test can be run again, all this is done long before any substantial money has been lost. Furthermore, if these tests are conducted by the military, a strategy for either a war time crisis or a civil catastrophe can be formulated long before human live is placed in harm’s way. One of the first examples of a war game played occurred in the 1980’s and involved the long standing Cold War with USSR (Mark Herman). Those of us who remember these tenuous times recall the ever present... ... middle of paper ... ... have foreseen the communication breakdown, the leaders in the fire department could have been warned that a 100 story building could actually collapse. Conventional wisdom previous to this day held by the command officers said a building of this size could not collapse. However, they were horribly wrong and a war game could have shed light on the possibility. The value of war games in both the private and public sector is more clear to me now. I viewed most of the exercises I participated in as a relative waste of time and energy, which infrequently produces any substantive results. Now however, I see that it was I that made these exercises a waste of time because I did not fully appreciate the value of war gaming. Moreover, had I injected more thoughtful ideas and used these exercises as a learning tool there would have been a better plan for the future.

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