Answers
Team-Building Answers
1. No.
A Special Operations goal is stated in one sentence with one key action verb that when accomplished indicates the goal has been achieved.
2. Yes.
If you don’t have your own format, use the Special Forces’ CARVE formula delineated in Who Dares Wins to evaluate missions.
3. No.
Doing a Special Operations Area Study to delineate the environment in which the team is to operate is critical for success.
4. No.
Harassment and negative feedback aren’t necessary to build an elite team using time-tested Special Operations Selection & Assessment (S&A).
5. No.
Understanding and factoring in the 95%-5% paradigm for external and internal motivation and change is a critical part of building a strong team and for being a leader of an elite team. Who Dares Wins gives the A-Team leader the ability to work with both types of team members.
6. No.
You can’t stop team members from being afraid or thinking negatively. Who Dares Wins incorporates the value of fear and the benefits of negative thinking into training and mission preparation.
7. Yes.
Training and preparing for failure helps prevent failure and more importantly reduces the level of fear among A-Team members.
8. No.
By prioritizing A-Team members, you increase morale and the number and types of missions they can accomplish.
9. No.
An SOP is a base document that allows new team members to get up to operating standards quickly and reduces re-inventing the same procedures over and over, thus allowing innovation and flexibility to increase. SOPs are an integral part of communication in Who Dares Wins.
10. Should be yes and then no. Don’t assume everything is black or white. You should be concerned about doing it right the next time, but one of the most effective ways to achieve that is conducting an effective After Action Review (AAR).
Leadership Answers
11. Yes.
Who Dares Wins has rule breaking as an integral part (thus the Dare part), but rule-breaking requires the paradox of understanding the three rules of rule-breaking.
12. Yes.
Lose-Lose training is very valuable in EVALUATING people and DEVELOPING character as part of Who Dares Wins training.
13. No.
You need to align the hierarchy of team, individual and mission goals to achieve success. Who Dares Wins teaches how to define the various levels of goals and how to integrate them.
14. Yes.
Giving team members your INTENT allows innovation and builds morale and is an important part of mission statements for Special Operations A-Teams.
15. No.
An A-Team leader must understand his/her OWN character before evaluating others as every evaluation is skewed by the leader’s perception. Who Dares Wins uses various techniques to allow leaders to self-assess and get external help for this.
16. No.
Part of doing a Special Operations Area Study is to do a ‘mission dissection’ to see how others succeeded, and more importantly, failed to do similar missions.
17. No.
In Who Dares Wins, making a decision is only the second step of the three steps of change.
18. Yes.
An A-Team leader can’t expect honesty up without giving honesty down.
19. No.
An effective A-Team leader gives respect first to team members and earns their respect through action.
20. Yes
A leader’s job is over-all mission accomplishment. Allowing area experts the lead in developing plans in their area improves morale and allows development of better plans.
21. Yes, but the answer is usually no as most people don’t understand brevity and clarity are the hallmarks of effective written communication.
22. Yes.
The Special Forces briefback is a critical component of mission planning and serves numerous essential functions in terms of delineating responsibilities and coordinating support.
23. No.
The strongest A-Teams are the ones that are constantly striving to be better, willing to learn from any source and change when it’s necessary.
24. No.
The best leaders are the ones who always look to improve by whatever means necessary.
25. If the answer is yes, feel free to contact Bob at bob@bobmayer.org to see how he can help your organization.