Article Shows Military Methods can improve business planning.

Press Release Summary:



Fall 2012 issue of Welding and Gases Today features GAWDA Convention speaker James D. Murphy sharing business leadership strategies. Specifically, Murphy explains how businesses can benefit from using a Red Team. Red Team is described as necessary means to overcoming overconfidence bias and groupthink theory. Comprised of outside individuals not involved in planning process, Red Team can look at plan critically and objectively to expose flaws/weaknesses in tactical planning process.



Original Press Release:



Military Methods Improve Business Planning



GAWDA Convention speaker James D. Murphy shares business leadership strategies.

Dewitt, NY: The May 1, 2011, mission to find Osama Bin Laden has become one of the most celebrated military mission planning successes in recent memory due to the utilization of a little-known and seldom-used practice called the Red Team. According to James D. Murphy, a former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot and the founder of Afterburner, the tactics used in planning this mission provide an important lesson that applies to business planning as well. Murphy explains how businesses can benefit from the use of a Red Team in the Fall 2012 issue of Welding & Gases Today, the leading magazine for the gases and welding equipment industry.

Mission planning, be it in military, business or everyday life, can be an emotional process. "We fall in love with the plans we make," says Murphy. "This is why the practice of utilizing a Red Team is necessary. A Red Team is a simple means to overcome the overconfidence bias and the theory of 'groupthink,' the need for groups to seek conformity and unanimity in planning and decision making."

A Red Team is a group of outside individuals who were not involved in the planning process, and can look at the plan critically and objectively. Says Murphy, "The Red Team's purpose is to expose flaws or weaknesses in the tactical planning process¡ªto test the plan with dispassionate reason and respectfully offer detailed criticism." However, he says it is important for the planners to accept the Red Team's criticism humbly, without commenting or defending the plan.

James D. Murphy is a speaker at the 68th Annual Convention of the Gases and Welding Distributors Association, being held September 9-12 in Colorado Springs, CO. Murphy will present "Leading Flawless Execution from the Top" during GAWDA's morning business session on Wednesday, September 12.

To learn more about using a Red Team to improve business planning, read "The Red Team" (http://www.weldingandgasestoday.org/index.php/2012/08/the-red-team/) at Welding & Gases Today Online. For more information, contact Carole Jesiolowski, senior editor at Welding & Gases Today at carole@weldingandgasestoday.org or 315-445-2347.

About GAWDA
Founded in 1945, the Gases and Welding Distributors Association (GAWDA) is the premier source for manufacturing knowledge, education and networking. Through its member journals (www.weldingandgasestoday.org), e-magazines, newsletters and industry wiki (www.gawdawiki.org), GAWDA connects suppliers of gases and manufacturers of related equipment as well as manufacturers of welding equipment and distribution leaders, for the purpose of safely delivering optimal solutions to the users of those products. GAWDA publications are the industry¡¯s voice for all matters related to the latest technology and the most up-to-date processes spanning welding equipment and products and services related to industrial, medical, specialty and cryogenic gases. A 501(c)3 organization, GAWDA members are located throughout North America.

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