“As I have had more experience in shaping the strategy of an organization, it has become clearer to me that the more we understand about tactics, the more flexibility we have to set new strategic directions. [...] Tactical development enriches strategic thought.”

— Douglas A. Johnson

“The skillful tactician may be likened to a snake that is found in the ChUng mountains. Strike at its head, and you will be attacked by its tail; strike at its tail, and you will be attacked by its head; strike at its middle, and you will be attacked by head and tail both.”

— Sun Tzu

Second in a three-part series on moving from activity, to tactics, to strategy.

So what makes a good tactician? In today’s piece, I’ll tell you some features of a good tactical mind and provide a couple analogies about areas where you, as a learning tactician, can concentrate your skills. But let me start with a little story.

A tactical success

I once organized a nonviolent direct action where groups of people were blocking all entrances to a building where corporate leaders were to discuss economic globalization, and a secret trade and investment treaty. The blockade worked. Nobody could enter the building. After an hour or so, the police started to gather at the end of one of the streets around the building. A friend of mine, who I know has a great sense for tactics, came up to me and told me what he thought the police intended to do.

He told me the police were going to block the street at both ends, and arrest everyone in the middle. This would clear one of the entrances to the building. Then, he told me, they would bring in the waiting corporate leaders. First, they would lead them through a bank, two streets over from the blocked building. They would walk them across the bank to exit on the now emptied street. The conference centre could then be accessed through the cleared doorway.

The police plan was foiled when, as he suggested, we started a secondary blockade to the bank the next street over. This helped the blockade last a few extra hours — which delayed the globalization conference. Our action felt (and was) successful thanks to a great tactician who could think ahead, anticipate police moves, and come up with a revised tactical plan.

So what skills-sets help someone be a good tactician?

The good tactician

A good tactician is like a good coach. A good tactician knows the importance of participant training and preparation. A good tactician knows how to bring out the best motivations in players, and boost morale. In a the heat of the game, a good tactician is skilled at deploying people and resources in the field. There’s a game plan, many backups, and quick, in the moment decisions. A good tactician will be able to react with quick, effective moves to the opponent’s strategy, in real-time or even better, in pre-emptive anticipation.

A good tactician is like a good cook, someone who has read and prepared such a wide range of recipes that a sense of food chemistry has developed. They know what goes together, and what doesn’t, the food prep techniques and cooking methods that bring the best taste and texture. This helps structure creativity and tasteful refinement. The good tactician, like the good cook shows great “make-do” adaptability to missing ingredients or unexpected outcomes. Like the chef, a good tactician knows how to put the little actions together in the right order to reach the most tasty results, and, thanks to a keen sense of timing, just in time for dinner!

A good tactician is like a good mechanic: someone with a large toolbox who’s good at preventive maintenance and fixing malfunction. A good tactician will make sure the vehicle can rev up sucessfully, the weather be hot and sunny, or cold and damp. A good tactician will make your operation run smoothly; each component doing its part, generating the most power for the amount of fuel (efficiency).

The low-down

So if you want to become someone who’s good at crafting clever tactics

1. Train for and attend lots of “games” (events and such)

2. Read lots of cookbooks (like the New Tactics notebooks)

3. And fill up that big, expanding toolbox

— Philippe Duhamel, interTactica.org

What else do good tacticians do? How would you go about building the coaching, cooking, mechanical skills you need? Tell us in the comments.