Simon Sinek on What the Military Teaches About the Importance of Planning

In Chapter 12 of 20 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, author and leadership expert Simon Sinek shares what working with the military, including the Air Force, has taught him about planning. Specifically, Sinek learns planning is much more valuable as a process than as an event. He paraphrases President Dwight Eisenhower's statement "In preparation for battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." Sinek learns plans too often go wrong but the process of planning creates more responsive reaction and problem solving in the face of adversity and uncertainty. Simon Sinek is a trained ethnographer who applies his curiosity around why people do what they do to teach leaders and companies how to inspire people. He is the author of "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action". Sinek holds a BA degree in cultural anthropology from Brandeis University.