Richard “Dick” Marcinko knows something about making—and breaking—rules.
He is perhaps best known as the creator of SEAL Team Six, the elite counterterrorist team that killed the terrorist Osama bin Laden in 2011. (Marcinko had long retired from the Navy by then, but when asked about the team’s exploits, he said—not surprisingly, perhaps—that he felt like a proud papa.)
But Marcinko is also known in Navy (and Pentagon) circles as someone who, to accomplish his missions, was unafraid to throw the rules out the window. (In his autobiography, Rogue Warrior, and his later novels, he shares interesting stories of how he irritated Pentagon bureaucrats to take care of his men and successfully complete missions.)
Much can be learned from Marcinko’s experiences as they relate to business plans.
1. Aim before you shoot.
Marcinko had to be clear in his writing to get the appropriate authorizations and approvals to create SEAL Team Six. The Navy had other SEAL teams, and in fact Marcinko had even commanded one of them earlier in his career. A new SEAL team focused just on counterterrorism activities was new to the Navy, and he had to take that into account.
Marcinko envisioned the idea for the team during the 1979–80 Iranian hostage crisis, following a failed attempt to rescue the hostages. He was assigned to create the plan by which the team would be organized, staffed, equipped, and trained. Ultimately, he was named the team’s first commanding officer.
2. Keep it simple.
Simplicity is so crucial that it often gets overlooked. Businesses often use technical jargon, or the latest buzzwords, in their plans. It might look good on paper but not everyone will understand all the fancy words.
When he led the first meeting of SEAL Team Six, Marcinko kept things simple. He told his men that they knew why they were there—counterterrorism. What that meant, Marcinko said, was “that we would do it to them before they do it to us.”
3. Know when to plan and when to take action.
It’s always good to consider various scenarios when creating your business plan, and how you will master those scenarios to be successful. Often, however, a leader must make decisions that aren’t covered in the business plan…and those decisions must be made, and actions taken, immediately.
In his “Rogue Warrior’s 10 Commandments of SpecWar,” Marcinko addresses this point. He writes “…thou art not paid for the methods, but for the results, by which means thou shall kill thine enemy by any means available before he killeth you.”
Consider these points when you develop or revise your business plan.
