Planning in the Open: Firing Line

CHICAGO (TheStreet) -- Trying to develop strategy in public is a recipe for failure.

In the military we employ what is called "open planning," which stands in sharp contrast to the way most businesses plan.

When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of Central Command, needed a plan. Unfortunately, the existing database of battle plans did not include one that involved removing an invading force from another country. This was a unique and new challenge.

He turned to Col. John A. Warden, a decorated Vietnam fighter pilot, to produce a plan in 48 hours. Good luck.

Warden took over a large room in the basement of the Pentagon and formed a planning team called "Checkmate." The team consisted of experts from each element that would be required to execute the mission successfully.

Experts from intelligence to infrastructure were teamed with the war fighters. Starting with the future picture, removing Iraqi forces from Kuwait, Warden and his team mapped out the battle space as a system and developed a plan to target Iraqi "centers of gravity," or those areas that were critical in holding Iraq together.

For example, the plan called for knocking out the electrical grid to diminish the fighting ability of the Iraqi combatants by making it difficult for them to see. Instead of employing a large number of aircraft going after multiple targets as we had done in previous wars, the plan called for using a couple of stealth aircraft with smart bombs to pinpoint critical electrical components.