We’ve conducted dozens of war games with clients since 2004, and we’ve seen the value of really digging into the potential actions of competitors. Unfortunately, it’s the rare client that conducts war games on a regular basis. Instead, it’s usually triggered by a competitive or environmental/regulatory change, so the issue starts on a chase.

Conducting an annual war games as part of your planning cycle can deepen your competitive understanding and strengthen your plans. A regular war-gaming cycle lets you understand the accuracy of your predictions, and over time, see the decision-making and behavioral patterns of competitors. It also ensures you’re not planning in a vacuum. This deeper understanding also enables you to intuitively respond to unexpected competitive moves in real time, enhancing your ability to move quickly. Competitors seem to be getting more numerous and aggressive, so make yourself battle-ready to win the battles and the war.