Clarity Without Chains

Most managers give their teams GPS coordinates, detailed playbooks, and somehow… paralysis.

Then I learned about Commander's Intent—the US Marine Corps doctrine that transformed how they fight. While other forces waited for perfect orders from headquarters, Marines learned to operate with one clear outcome and freedom to adapt. 

Same battlefield. 

Same fog of war. 

Different results.

(Boyd called it "people, ideas, hardware—in that order.")

The Marines discovered what Silicon Valley rediscovered decades later: In uncertainty, clarity of purpose beats precision of process. 

Every.

Single.

Time.

Your team doesn't need another Gantt chart. They need to know what winning looks like. Not the 47-step process to maybe get there. Just the definition of victory. 

Then get out of their way.

Because here's what breaks: When you prescribe every move, your best people become expensive robots. They stop thinking. Start waiting. 

For permission.

For clarity.

For the next instruction manual.

The Corps puts it simply: "Tell me what to accomplish, not how to accomplish it."

Smart subordinates with clear intent make better decisions than geniuses with perfect instructions.

Tell them where.

Not how.

That's empowerment.