I just finished Barbara Tuchman's "The Guns of August" finally I understand the Belgians. Just a word of advice, they'll share their beer but whatever you do keep off their lawn.
One comment struck me as very telling, in a description of the German army's strategic training for war, they played war games. However the Kaiser insisted on playing and also insisted that his team always win, leading to big problems.
This is a key lesson leaders today can ponder. When setting up strategic thinking challenges, team builders, ropes courses, etc. we often set the leader up to win. Generally it is because they are footing the bill, but also because we want them to have a good time. Teams that let the leader win, or only bring good news, are weak in the area of objective reality. Very dangerous for a military group, surgical team or accounting auditors.
Make sure that as a leader your teams have rehearsed how to give you bad news, tell you that you are just plain wrong, and have seen you lose. This is not so much about building humility as it is about having eyes on the back of your head, increasing your field of vision. One of the great advantages of using games and simulations is to see cause and effect.
What you know and what you don't know become obvious in a game. Use this as an opportunity to test the big plan, work out new reactions, and fill in gaps. If the Kaiser had been beaten by his own team, perhaps he would have avoided messing with the Belgians at all.
