Red teaming decisions. What does this mean? Well it might just be one of the best tactics (or hacks) to improve your team’s decision making quality.
In fact, at Advanced Performance we worked with a large tech company to help them develop a culture of elite team performance and they subsequently integrated this into one of their core company processes.
What is it?
It refers to purposefully creating a team (either internal or external) who will provide an outsider’s perspective. Their main job is to counteract or purposefully take down ideas or strategies.
Where has it been used?
The idea comes from the military (and subsequently cybersecurity) who would use “red teams” to go against the planned attack by the “blue teams”. The military would then refine their approach based on this exercise before they actually deployed troops. This ensured that blindspots were exposed and an honest examination of the decisions/plans were undertaken.
What are the benefits?
The byproduct of this approach is that it helps build psychological safety – because teams become accustomed to having their ideas purposefully countered. When you know it’s on purpose you are more likely to appreciate the feedback than if it’s unexpected/unsolicited.
Essential in the process is debriefing – come together and discuss how both teams managed, exploited and combatted vulnerabilities.
Try red teaming with your team during your next big decision or planning phase. I can guarantee your final plans will be far more rigorous increasing the chance of success.
