THIS MEANS WAR

HOW WAR GAMING PREPS BUSINESSES FOR THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO

- DAMIEN MARTIN

"EVERY SINGLE STRATEGY THAT A COMPANY BUILDS IS BASED ON AN ASSUMPTION, AND IF YOU CAN CHALLENGE YOUR ASSUMPTIONS, YOU CAN CHALLENGE YOUR STRATEGIES." ARJAN SINGH, AUTHOR OF COMPETITIVE SUCCESS: BUILDING WINNING STRATEGIES WITH CORPORATE WAR GAMES

It's impossible to predict the future.

But businesses looking to keep their competitive edge can get pretty close. The good ones know their competition and themselves well. With the help of advanced data analytics and strategic thinking, they can engage in wargaming, scenario planning that asks what could go right - or, more often, what could go wrong in the market and the world that might affect business.

Armed with that information, businesses can create plans based on what they've learned to ensure continued success in the face of whatever disruptions might come, be they tariffs, nearshoring, or a pandemic.

"Companies at the top of their game, significant market share, doing really well, tend to have this belief that whatever they've been doing from a strategy perspective is likely to be successful in the future," Arjan Singh, author of Competitive Success: Building Winning Strategies with Corporate War Games told BOSS.

But ask companies like Blockbuster how that worked out for them.

"Every single strategy that a company builds is based on an assumption," Singh said, "and if you can challenge your assumptions, you can challenge your strategies. You can challenge the way you work."

PREPARING FOR THE WORST