Succeeding in the Info. Economy Through the Practice of "Preparation Precedes Performance"

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One general principle of strategy is to become flexible in regards to one's own objectives and strategic approaches when operating within an uncertain setting.  It is also important to center oneself on becoming self-efficient until the direction and the momentum of the Big Tangible Picture is established. 

During the preparation stage of the situation, one centers on the act of staging proper logistics and procedures to meet the opportunity from a top-down view.

Whereas, most people preferred to plan and prepare at the wrong stage of the cycle. For whatever reason, they somehow find the act of operating from the seat of their pants to be emotionally enjoyable.

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"A team that is unable to discern good fortune and misfortune in the as-yet-uninformed does not understand preparations." 

- Military Methods, 22 (A minor revision on a concept from Sun Bin)

Minor Jottings

In chaotic times, some companies have a tendency to take a risk without the understanding the secular effect within the Big Tangible Picture (BTP). 

Simultaneously, some Chief Decision Makers possessed the tendency of not knowing whether their project operation team project have the logistics and the economics to meet the criteria of the Big Tangible Picture. 

... Some people might know the general objectives and the approach for achieving a grand goal. It is quite rare that proper planning and preparation processes are ever implemented promptly. When a major negative circumstance forces them to do so, it is usually too late to execute that grand process.  Better yet, the implementation of the assessment step barely existed.

... Our research and our experience have revealed to us that most organizations do not have a strategic process that enables their decision makers to read and recognize the circumstances that lead to predictable and unpredictable settings.

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Source: Dao of Strategy

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Click here for more posts on the subject of Preparation Precedes Performance.

"Amat Victoria Curam" - Latin quote   

The translation is "victory loves preparation."

Succeeding and Profiting Through the Process of Assessing, Positioning and Influencing (The SF Niners Style)

This post is an updated version of a previous entry on the San Francisco kicker.  

Throughout the past football season. some of us followed  Phil Dawson's progress. (Side note: The others are New England Patriots fans.)

In early December, Dawson was responsible for the final score against Seattle and named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his four-field-goal performance. 

After that game, Phil Dawson,was named the NFC’s Special Teams Player of the Week again against the Phoenix Cardinals.  ...  He centered himself and kicked the winning field goal again.

The head coach thought quite highly of his performance. Statistically, his scoring record was greater than the quarterback.

A few months later, The San Francisco Forty Niners re-signed him for another season for his previous season successes.

The 2013 Post

Everyone prepares for a competitive situation in their own way.  Some mediates. Others either talk and wait or practice their tactical routines.  Phil Dawson of the San Francisco Forty Niners strategizes his next game time situation by studying the weather reports and practices his kicks.

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Dawson, 38, routinely mines data from Weather.com, AccuWeather.com and WeatherBug.com.

“I’m pretty psycho, I’ve got to admit,” he said. “It’s a borderline problem.”

Dawson’s history in wind, sleet and horizontal-blowing snow became relevant when he signed with the 49ers in March. Dawson’s new home stadium, Candlestick Park, is known for its swirling winds that mess with field-goal attempts, and kickers’ heads.

But Dawson has been there. Endured that. He’s played 204 of his 215 career games outdoors, with 108 coming at the Browns stadium, which is perched on the shores of blustery Lake Erie.

Dawson has played 12 percent of his career games in Cleveland in December. The average forecast for the city in the final month of the year: High of 30.9 degrees with 12-mile-per-hour winds and .38 inches of snow fall (that’s from climate-zone.com, Phil).

... Despite consistently weathering less-than-ideal conditions, Dawson ranks ninth in NFL history in field-goal percentage (84.0) and third in percentage from 50-plus yards (70.6). Seventeen months removed from his 40th birthday, he’s improving with age: He ranked second in the NFL in field-goal percentage (93.5) in 2012 en route to his first Pro Bowl and has drilled 14 of 15 attempts from 50-plus yards since 2011.

The 49ers believe they’ve upgraded after six-time Pro Bowler David Akers, 38, who was cut in March, endured his worst season in 2012. Dawson has missed 14 attempts (93 of 107) since 2009, one more than Akers missed in last year’s final 14 regular-season games.

Given his sustained success, Dawson is optimistic he can handle the inevitable surprises during the 49ers’ final season at The Stick.

PHILD“I think those experiences can only help, but they’re no guarantee,” Dawson said. “So I’ve still got to put the work in. I’ve got to wear out Weather.com like I always do trying to figure out hourly forecasts and wind directions. Has it rained that week? Is the field going to be soft? Is it going to be firm? All that kind of stuff. I’ve got to do my homework.”

Dawson did some advance Stick scouting in the offseason, visiting the stadium several times to get more acquainted after only playing two career games in San Francisco. In 2003, Dawson missed his only attempt, a 48-yarder, at Candlestick. In 2011, he made his only kick, a 52-yarder. Not surprisingly, Dawson recalls that he kicked in ideal conditions during his previous visits to the stadium.

“The weather’s been perfect,” Dawson said. “I’m still holding out hope that I’m bringing that with me. Lord knows I’ve played in rough stuff elsewhere.”

Dawson has also endured rough seasons, from a team perspective. He’s appeared in just one postseason game and the 49ers’ recent success was alluring when he weighed his free-agent options.

Now, the weather wonk who has kicked in all elements is eager to experience playoff conditions for the first time since 2003.

“I’m more looking forward now to kicks that are more team-centered, rather than personal accomplishments,” Dawson said. “It’s been communicated to me that’s why I’m here.”

The full post may be read here. Click here for another view of this story

Assessing the Process of Phil Dawson 
On the field, Mr. Dawson operates without any gadget. His research already told him what would the weather be at that game day and at that specific time. Dawson knows the direction and the momentum of the wind at any part of the football field at any specific moment during the game and methodically follows his sequence of "readiness to implementation" with no hesitation.

Assess
He assesses by intuitively focusing on the range, the wind direction, the wind speed (by looking at the flags), the temperature, and humidity. 

Position
The first step of Positioning is the maneuvering toward the right place where Dawson begins the process of visualization while synchronizing his breathing with the projected execution. He then pre-positions his kick to the ready position while being mindful of the wind direction and the location of the yellow-colored goal posts.

Influence
This step begins when he scores the field goal and after the play is over. His team becomes more confident with him. In a climate-challenging situation, they know that there is a positive chance that he will score the field goal.

Influence always comes from a well-honed assessment and well-planned positioning.  Execute the influence is the endpoint of the process

To an outsider, it looks simple. But, Mr. Dawson have spent many hours, preparing himself for all types of complex-driven competitive situation. But nothing is ever simple especially in a highly stressed, high reward situation where there are other multi-components that also allowed the kick to be effective.

The Questions of the Day
Regardless of the situation, do you assess, position and influence your strategic situation with a script?

Like Phil Dawson, are you willing to spend the time assessing the specifics of your situations or bonding with your teammates?

Remember, victory love preparation. 

The Compass Approach to 
Maneuvering and Prevailing 
in a Complex Situation

Compass Rule: The time that it takes to assess, and position is inversely proportionally to that the time it takes to influence.

By realizing the complexity, the risk, the uncertainty and the volatility of a given situation, the successful strategists take their time to assess their situation systemically.  After a few sessions of intense preparation, the practice of implementing the "assess, position and influence" steps becomes automatic in a "real-time" competitive situation. 

The process model of Assessing, Positioning and Influencing requires absolute act of planning, preparation and practice.  Do you have the time, the discipline and the drive to do that?

From our experience, assessing, positioning and influencing through a script enables the implementer to become psychologically methodological. With practice, one could becomes subtle in one's own action. 

Some More Questions 
Do you ever methodically assess the targeted terrain before implementing your action? 

Do you make selective assessment a daily habit?   

Side note: The key to building this habit begins with the act of centering.

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Proper Preparation Prevents Pissed Poor Performance #4

"The will to prepare is usually greater than the will to win." 

Being technically prepared is easy is for the amateurs.   They are usually psychologically unprepared for most uncertain situations.

Building the skill of being psychologically prepared is a balance of art and science.

Good psychological preparation and some unique experience usually minimizes the fear of pain, the fear of loss and the feat of uncertain extremity. 

Unlike what the Cult of the Art of War preaches, one cannot gain this unique state of awareness from reading the Art of War or any books. It is another  fallacy by those amateurs. Those who claimed that point, never competed in an extreme setting.

Our friends at Cook Ding Kitchen, explained to us that the proper practice of internal martial arts is one of the few ways to gain this level of awareness.  In the field of internal martial arts, the experienced instructors referred this level of experience as a skill.

Proper Planing and Preparation Prevents Pissed Poor Performance #3

Organization 
(Five staccato syllables to live by)

Organization leads to preparation
Preparation eliminates the unexpected. 
Be ready for everything. . . . 
Overlook nothing. ... 

"A team that is unable to discern good fortune and misfortune in the as-yet-uninformed does not understand preparations." 
- Military Methods, 22 (A minor revision on a concept from Sun Bin)

In the strategy game, the well-prepared and successful strategists are always focused on securing the last base camp before assaulting the summit.

In summary, preparation is the key. Knowing when and how to prepare for a planning and preparation situation is the first stage of preparation. ... Knowing what to plan for and how to plan is the next stage. ... It all begins by assessing the situation and following your script.

Preparation Precedes Performance (4): Strategizing a Worst Case Scenaro

In an extreme setting, the successful strategist usually have a "Go" bag that is "steady and ready." We presumed that you have prepared your EDC bag or your Go bag for this type of scenario.

Other than the usual laptop, the safety cable, the memory sticks, the ethernet cable, the external hard drive, and the head set, what other items are sitting in your Go Bag?


Do you have the proper gear for this scenario?  ... The answer is not in your copy of the Art of War!

Following is an abridged list of gear that sits in our Go Bag: 

• a LED flashight;
• a long sleeve t-shirt shirt; 
• a full water bottle; 
• a swiss army knife;
• a Gerber's all-purpose gear tool;
• some food bars; and
• a portable radio.

In a chaotic setting, it is important to know when to be strategically mobile and when to be strategically fixed.  Being mentally and strategically prepared before the chaos become pertinent. To stay ahead of the chaos, becoming light, aware, agile and mobile is the most relevant step.

Side note
In a future post, we will talk about the principles of strategic and tactical planning and the principles of preparation.

Proper Planning Prevents Pissed Poor Performance

Compass Rule 
90% of the planning process is seeing the essence of one's goal and one's plan. The other 10% is having the fortitude to implement it properly.

Click here for an example of a "failure to plan is to plan to failure" situation.  

In conclusion, stupid people will do stupid things.