Shoot, Move, Communicate
We have a saying on the Teams: “Shoot, move, communicate.” It’s the essence of how we function together, and the lessons of “shoot, move, communicate” carry over to the business world. Shooting is a very technical skill that requires a complete understanding of the fundamentals (body positioning, breathing, trigger squeeze, and follow-through), and environmental factors (wind direction and sun position). Together, they all contribute to the myriad sources of information that you must consider to make the right decision, and pull that trigger at the most opportune time so that the bullet can find a home. To shoot is to make a decision based on a confluence of information. To actually pull the trigger is to take action, to lead, and to create value for others that inspires behavior.
Now, the only way to advance your performance from beginner to intermediate to advanced (to badass) is to not only grasp the fundamentals, but to apply them. Every. Single. Day. This requires not only incredible amounts of discipline, focus, self-awareness, and social awareness, but also the ability to harness and collectively apply them through one’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual capacities. All of these things together determine performance.
While shooting is performance-based criteria that defines a SEAL’s action, moving is our adaptation—our ability to change based on a need. This could take the form of physical adaptation (changing locations in a firefight, for example), personal adaptation (changing opinions or behaviors), or organizational restructuring (changing organizational culture or strategy). Whatever the impetus or the type of movement, the one constant is that to move is to learn, as you shift from what you once knew to be right into the unchartered territory that you now believe to be the new right. Humility is fundamental here, too, as it’s what enables you to release your previously held mental models and move forward.
Finally, there’s communicate. Communication is more than just the who, what, or why of a message. To communicate effectively entails a “we, not me” focus, and it is what inspires the action of the aforementioned elements. You will see the principle of communication revisited again and again throughout the stories in this book, for knowledge sharing is the lifeblood of any individual, team, or organization. To communicate effectively is not only to fulfill an obligation, but also to be a good team member; to be proactive and share anticipatory situations before they unfold so as to build context among the team. It is also what fuels strong leadership, another cornerstone of SEAL-style performance.
From the hypothetical gunfight scenario above, you can see that a well-developed plan means little in the face of bullets and suicide bombers. It requires comprehensive skill and insurmountable will on behalf of every team member to turn that well-developed plan into a well-executed mission and realize it in the face of the unknown. A lack of physical competence to perform or learn a new skill, for instance, does nothing to build one’s confidence, which falls under both mental and emotional capacities. As a mental capacity, confidence comes in the form of self-talk, positive affirmations that in turn build one’s emotional capacity. Similarly, for the emotional component, self-confidence helps us feel more competent because, by very definition, we know we can rely on ourselves when given a task that we know well. Needless to say, you can see how the four pillars are all intertwined together and inextricably linked.
The premise here is two things. First, whichever side can shoot, move, and communicate together, faster is the one that will win the fight. The critical component here—of shooting, moving, and communicating—is ensuring you’re doing so effectively. Shooting more bullets, communicating more often, or moving in the wrong direction are no good without a meaningful purpose and the skill and will to pursue it. Look at it this way: as a rule of thumb, shooting without communicating the direction in which your muzzle is aimed while bullets are flying is never a good idea. Similarly, you would never just move—effectively—from point A to point B in a gunfight, merger, or negotiation without communicating your current position or your intended destination.
The second premise is that no single component achieves success alone. Shooting, moving, and communicating is a system of interrelated parts that govern and guide oneself and one’s team or organization toward success. To employ any faction independently would be an effort in futility, for it would have detrimental and/or insignificant impacts—similar to making a strategic company decision without telling anybody.
Key Takeaways
To shoot, move, and communicate in the SEAL Teams is to perform, adapt, and lead in the private sector. However, before undergoing any sort of change, you must choose the right time to adjust: too early or too late could be fateful. Thus, the significance in understanding your enemy, the operating environment, and the competencies of your team all contribute to how fast you and your organization can seize the opportunity and stay competitive.
Decisiveness, the skill and will to learn and adapt, and a shared understanding of the environment are what enable high-performing organizations to sustain high performance. But it starts with the individual.
As you can see, the three elements that made us successful on the battlefield—shoot, move, communicate—are the same principles and behaviors that make you and your business successful in the boardroom: performance, adaptability, leadership. What’s more is they can operate linearly or dynamically—in sequence or not—since each one complements the others, and that’s what the next chapter is about.
Performance and The PAL Model©
The paradox seems to be, as Socrates demonstrated long ago, that the truly free individual is free only to the extent of his own self-mastery [w]hile those who will not govern themselves are condemned to find masters to govern over them.
—Steven Pressfield, The War of Art
There are certain slogans that are drilled into our heads throughout the course of BUD/S that SEALs learn to live by: “The only easy day was yesterday,” “Earn your Trident every day,” “It pays to be a winner.” These sayings serve to remind us of who we are and the shared purpose that binds us. Shoot, move, and communicate is the simplest and most fundamental way of explaining how SEALs work together. It sounds basic, but it’s a winning formula with catastrophic implications if, at any point, the system breaks down.
Now, as I explained at the end of the previous chapter, what most people don’t realize is that anyone from any walk of life can borrow the SEALs’ dynamic for success; it just needs a little bit of translating for the private sector. That’s where the PAL Model© comes in.
The PAL Model© refers to the way in which any team—whether at work, on the athletic field, or even at home—can borrow this dynamic from the SEALs and apply it to their own efforts toward success. Shooting is the skill that embodies the SEALs’ efficacy on the battlefield; it’s the most fundamental of the skills that we need to perform, but off the battlefield, it’s all about performance (the “P” in PAL). Does each and every member of your team have the skillset in place that is needed to advance the team’s collective cause? That’s the performance piece.
Similarly, as I demonstrated in the previous chapter’s firefight illustration, a SEAL’s ability to survive in combat hinges upon his—and his team’s—ability to move. In the civilian world, what we’re talking about is adaptability (the “A” in PAL). Adaptability is what enables any team to tackle the unknown and strategically improve their position at a moment’s notice.
Finally, there’s communicate. If a SEAL decides to move in battle but that message