The Marine Corps Way: Using Maneuver Warfare to Lead a Winning Organization

Tempo ”the principle of hitting the other fellow as quick as you can ”is relative speed in time: identifying opportunities, making decisions, and acting faster than one s opponent , thereby forcing him into a constant state of reaction.

From the outset of hostilities, the Egyptians struggled to react to Israel s faster tempo, and their ability to react deteriorated as the war progressed. Ultimately, the Egyptians were overcome by events. By the time the Egyptians were aware that their Air Force had been destroyed on the ground, the IDF had already launched its ground attack. After penetrating the Egyptians first line of defense, the IDF immediately transitioned to the next stage of the attack and pressed hard into the second line. The Israelis maintained this momentum through the third line and on to the Mitla and Giddi Passes, where they intercepted the fleeing Egyptians.

Jenny Craig, the chain of weight-management centers, used rapid tempo to deliver a decisive blow to its archrival NutriSystem in the 1980s. In this market, where diet centers were deriving almost all of their profits from the sales of portion- and calorie -controlled food products, Jenny Craig engaged NutriSystem in a duel of product improvements: first freeze- dried food, then boil-in pouches, and later microwavable pouches.

Because NutriSystem was primarily a chain of franchises, each product improvement required the approval of countless franchisees. Jenny, who, with her family, owned most of her company s diet centers, was able to make companywide decisions and implement those decisions much more rapidly . Almost immediately after identifying an opportunity to sell a new line of microwavable frozen foods , Jenny Craig invested heavily in the new product line and its requisite storage capacity. NutriSystem, which struggled to gain consensus among its hundreds of independently owned franchisees to invest in yet another product improvement, failed to respond to Jenny Craig s move, lost considerable market share, canceled its IPO, and was eventually acquired . Now only the name survives.

Marines consider tempo a vital weapon, and this weapon can become part of your arsenal of business practices as well. By leading from the front and pushing decision making to the lowest levels, they endeavor to locate themselves as close to the point of decision as possible. The Marines adherence to the ¹ / ₃ - ² / ₃ Rule , which reserves ¹ / ₃ of the planning time remaining before a deadline for a commander and the remaining ² / ₃ for his or her subordinates , reveals that they discipline themselves not to monopolize precious time during the planning process. Recognizing that excessive debate can slow tempo, Marines execute their leader s decision once it has been made as if it were their own. As an institution they train decision-making speed. And they have even streamlined the formal planning process into a rapid reaction planning process (R2P2) for special situations.