'What's the Point?'
Business leaders, political leaders, military leaders, entrepreneurs all need to learn and practice the same fundamental rule of thumb: Ask the last question first. And the last question is, "What's the point of the exercise?"
If you don't begin a new campaign, a new enterprise, a new military engagement, or a new business launch with a clear definition of victory, you've already set yourself up for failure. If you don't know what success is, how do you know when you've achieved it? If you don't know what your end point is, how do you know if your strategy and tactics will take you there? If you don't have a clear understanding of what you hope to achieve, how will you be able to justify the time, energy, human and financial resources you commit to the effort?
It's a lesson that the United States first learned in the Vietnam War, where we managed to win every battle, and still left the country having lost the war. The critical missing element to that ill-conceived war was a lack of a clear definition of victory. In the absence of a shared understanding of the point of the exercise, we not only could not mount an effective military strategy in the field, we also lost the support of the American people at home.
Afghanistan is no different. Until and unless the leaders in the Obama Administration answer the last question first, the American people will have no understanding of the reason sacrifices are being made on the ground; military leaders will be unable to mount an effective military campaign; and the risk is that the whole situation deteriorates in a fog of poorly articulated national security and military purposes. Ask the last question first, and questions of political and military strategy will follow from that first and most critical answer.
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