In my professional career, I have always tried to address problems from various points of view to bring about a positive outcome. Even in my personal life, adopting different perspectives has often enabled me to understand how best to respond to different problems and develop an optimal strategy for success.

 

Know Your Enemy

 

As a platoon leader in the Army, my responsibility was to develop the tactical level strategy to be employed during our mission. Part of the process of developing this plan included assessing the enemy composition and disposition in order to generate an appropriate operation to effectively carry out the mission. Armed with knowledge of an enemy’s capabilities, I needed to analyze the situation from the perspective of the enemy forces. By putting myself in the enemy’s shoes, I was able to approximate the enemy positions on a map as well as the actions they would take to respond to threats. After such an analysis, I crafted the optimal plan to address enemy forces and complete my mission. I have applied this practice of visualizing the battlefield from the enemy point of view while at the Bush School in crisis simulations. By visualizing what adversarial actors would do to degrade my ability to succeed, and developing a plan that preemptively addresses those actions, I have successfully deescalated the crisis simulations from complete disaster.

 

Strategize for Success

 

Strategic board games often require a player to examine their moves from the perspective of their opponent. Since adolescence, I have enjoyed playing the board game Go. Go was created in China thousands of years ago and remains a popular game even today. With more possible positions on the board than atoms in the universe, Go is considered one of the most complex games on the planet, despite its relatively simple rules. A game of territorial strategy, one move can shape the entire game. Playing Go as a hobby has challenged me to think ahead about how my next move will affect the momentum of the game. By thinking several moves ahead and about how my opponent will respond, I am able to develop a broader strategy for success. I have applied these skills to my study of grand strategy at the Bush School as well, assessing how countries around the world will respond to actions taken by adversarial states, such as the coordinated response between the United States, Japan, and South Korea to a North Korean missile test.

 

Match Expectations

 

When writing grant proposals to secure funds for a project, it is critical to think about how the funding organization views your project in advancing their mission. Part of my coursework at the Bush School has involved developing a grant proposal to offer to potential clients. Throughout the process of developing my grant proposal, the most important thing to ensure was that the project aligned with the grantor’s values and mission. As I refined my proposal, I repeatedly thought about how well my project aligned with the values of the foundation, and how the proposal reviewer would assess my project’s conformation with the organization’s mission. Adopting the reviewer’s perspective enabled me to improve my chances of success by writing proposals that accentuate how my program aligns with their values without distorting the nature of the project.

 

Whether on the field of battle or in the midst of a game of Go, developing a strategy from the perspective of the adversary enables me to craft the most effective way to successfully complete my task. I applied this way of thinking to my work at the Bush School in both simulated settings as well as through developing a grant proposal, thinking about the problem from different points of view in order to bring about an optimal outcome, be it funding for a program, or simple board game victory.