Ask More: The Power of Questions to Open Doors, Uncover Solutions, and Spark Change pdfdrive com

What’s up there?
How many enemy?
What’s the weather going to be like?
How much time do I have?
How much equipment?
How much food?
What’s my ammunition supply rate?

---

What’s the enemy doing?
How dug in is he?
What’s his ability to reinforce?
Once you assess your opponent’s ability, Powell explained, you devise a
plan that includes tactics and timelines. Your success in taking that hill will
depend on having asked the right questions so you have the most accurate
“estimate of the situation” possible.
As Powell rose in the ranks, his world expanded well beyond the hill to be
taken. Increasingly, he had to think about winning the war, not just the battle. He
developed strategic questions designed to look at the big picture, articulate
goals, and challenge his thinking and that of his commanders. Powell’s strategic
questions asked decision-makers to peel back groupthink and conventional
wisdom, recognizing Vermeulen’s definition of strategy and the stakes of
“complex
decisions
under
uncertainty,
with
substantive,
long-term
consequences.”
Eight Yeses
Powell’s big test as a military leader came after Iraq invaded Kuwait in August
1990. Saddam Hussein’s invasion was a sledge-hammered move in a fragile
region, a dictator’s crass grab for power and territory. By occupying Kuwait, he
also posed a threat to Saudi Arabia, America’s oil-rich ally. President George H.
W. Bush declared that the aggression “will not stand.” The president wanted a
recommendation. The first questions, Powell explained to me, sought to define
the mission.
“The early argument was what do you want to do? Do you just want to
protect Saudi Arabia so that the Iraqis can’t move south? Or do you want to kick
the Iraqis out of Kuwait? And is there anything else you want to do? You want
to go to Baghdad? And we needed to get those questions answered … before we
made a plan,” he said.
There was no appetite to go to Baghdad, least of all from Powell. He told the
president that if the United States pursued Saddam and marched into Baghdad,
“You are going to be the proud owner of 25 million people. You will own all
their hopes, aspirations, and problems. You’ll own it all.”
So the Pentagon went to work, putting together a military campaign,
Operation Desert Storm, to liberate Kuwait. Planners considered Iraq’s military

---

capacity, topography, roads, ports, waterways, weather, and the location of
civilian populations. They looked at American capabilities and the contributions
allied forces could make. Before proposing to the president the deployment of
half a million American troops to push Saddam Hussein back across the desert,
however, Powell asked his strategic questions to see what they would reveal
through the long lens of diplomacy, politics, and war. He wanted to know about
goals, resources, consequences, rationale, and risk. Having experienced
Vietnam, he asked whether the American public would stand by a war in Iraq if
it got costly and difficult.
Powell posed eight strategic questions looking at the big picture, challenging
assumptions, and defining success. Only if the answers to all were positive, he
believed, could the president confidently launch a full-scale invasion to liberate
Kuwait.
Is a vital national security interest threatened?
Is the action supported by the American people?
Do we have genuine, broad international support?
Have the risks and costs been fully and frankly analyzed?