How resilient is your construction business? And what should you do as a business leader to mitigate the risks?
There is a military and business strategy called red teaming. Basically, it allows an organization to expose its weak points and stress test plans and strategies to counter them.
In today’s episode, we’ll dive deep into what a red team is, why you should use it, and some tools to help you red team your construction business to make it more resilient.
Plus, we also have Leyah interviewing John Hall, a construction business leader, on how the Systematize Your Construction Business (SYCB) program helped him reclaim his time and empower his team.
Let’s get started!
Red Team Explained
In the business world, strategy is king, but red teaming takes it up a notch.
“Red teaming is a systematic way of making critical and contrarian thinking part of the strategic planning process of any organization. It provides a robust set of tools designed to challenge assumptions, expose hidden threats, and test plans and strategies.”
You can shake things up by embracing the red team mindset and considering alternative scenarios and potential threats.
In short, it’s like donning the hat of your fiercest competitor and scrutinizing your organization’s strategy from their point of view.
This approach helps you identify weaknesses, anticipate market movements, and make smarter decisions. After all, it’s better to expose those cracks before your competitor does!
Why Red Team?
So why should you care about red teaming up your business?
According to the US Army Red Team handbook (which is a real thing, by the way), here are the main reasons why organizations should use red teaming.
1. We routinely take shortcuts because of limitations on time, personnel, or other resources. And we accept that as a normal way of doing business. In the construction context, I call this the JETS (Just Enough To Start) trap.
2. We assume we understand situations because we’ve been in similar ones before, and we disregard ambiguity or don’t fully appreciate what they call asymmetries. What we don’t know is that, according to an FMI Corp study, this attitude is one of the reasons why even large successful contractors fail.
3. We make many small decisions that are individually close enough. But when joined together become the seeds of failure.
4. We discount potential threats because we don’t fully appreciate the likelihood of occurrence or the complexity of influencing factors.
5. We take comfort in the familiar and assume that others, even those on the other side of the world, share our views, beliefs, or tendencies.
Red teaming isn’t just applicable in military settings – it’s a powerful concept that can turbocharge your business. So how do you go about red teaming your construction business to make it more resilient? Listen in or watch the full episode HERE to learn more.
Additional Resources:
– FREE webinar on how to recession-proof your business HERE
– Hear success stories from our clients HERE
– Book a FREE call with our team HERE
– Visit Construction Leading Edge for more HERE
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The Construction Leading Edge Podcast helps construction business owners maximize their revenue, eliminate chaos, systematize their work, and win back their time.
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