Red Team

A Change of Perspective

When US military or intelligence officers plan a crucial operation, they often convene a team of “devil’s advocates” to attack their strategy ruthlessly. This so-called “red team” probes the plan for weaknesses, runs a range of simulations and brainstorms about why the plan might fail. It looks at the strategy from an adversary’s perspective and predicts how an enemy would respond. When a red team finally signs off on a plan, leaders can be confident that the plan is sound.

The private sector is increasingly embracing red-team evaluation tactics, however executive resistance is a barrier more widespread use of this tool. Businesses that adapt such red-team techniques as simulations, “alternative analysis” and “vulnerability probes,” can challenge assumptions, spark creativity, mitigate “cognitive biases,” and minimize the homogenizing, conforming power of groupthink.

“You Can’t Grade Your Own Homework”

Members of institutions generally fail at evaluating their own strategies and processes. As an insider, you observe your own operations through a filter of biases. These unconscious thought patterns or heuristics include:

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