Companies don’t need just strategy; they need strategic readiness. That’s where business Wargaming comes into play.
Over the past few months, I’ve had the opportunity to run several Wargaming workshops. While the core objective is usually straightforward – understand the competitive landscape and stress-test your strategy – the outcomes consistently go beyond what participants expect.
Obvious and the Not-So-Obvious Benefits of Wargaming
Here’s what I’ve observed: both the obvious and the not-so-obvious benefits that emerge when a team steps into a Wargaming session.
✅ The Obvious Benefits: Valuable, Expected, and Always Delivered
Participants usually come in with clear expectations:
- Understand how competitors might behave in the near future.
- Stress-test the current strategy and build contingencies (what-if’s).
- Working to improve the company’s position.
These goals are always met. Teams consistently walk away with a sharper understanding of the market environment. But what’s more powerful are the moments of revelation – when someone says, “I hadn’t thought about it like that before.” The workshop often becomes a turning point in how people view their strategic reality.
Even senior decision-makers, although they sometimes need to digest uncomfortable truths, appreciate that a fresh new perspective has been developed together. And when there is a shared understanding of threats and opportunities, refining strategy becomes much easier.
💡 The Not-So-Obvious Benefits: Where the Real Magic Happens
Here’s where things get interesting. Wargaming often uncovers unexpected, high-value outcomes:
- Fresh insights about competitors that no one saw coming.
- Internal blind spots that finally come into view. Sometimes, it’s the moment when someone names the “elephant in the room.”
- Cross-functional thinking that leads to more strategic, big-picture conversations.
- Shifts in company focus – realizing that priorities need to change in response to the landscape ahead.
- The emergence of new talents – people who step up during the workshop and demonstrate creativity, clarity, or influence. On a daily basis, we may not see them!
In short, Wargaming isn’t just about understanding others. It’s also about better understanding yourself as a team and an organization.
👥 Who’s in the Room – and Why That Matters
A key success factor in Wargaming is gathering the right mix of people. In my workshops, we typically bring together middle-level managers from different functions – Sales, Marketing, Finance, Supply, and others. This is not a siloed Marketing & Sales exercise; it’s a strategic challenge that demands holistic thinking.
Additionally, top management plays a different role: they observe, rather than participate directly in the competitive role-play. This setup helps avoid managerial biases and allows real surprises and honest insights to emerge.
🔄 Team Dynamics: From Siloed Thinking to Strategic Alignment
One of the most rewarding outcomes is how people start to work together differently. The exercise forces teams to zoom out, collaborate, and jointly answer tough questions. As they role-play competitors and simulate responses, they begin to value each other’s perspectives.
It’s not uncommon to hear someone say, “We should keep working on this topic together after the workshop.”Cross-functional engagement becomes more than a nice-to-have – it becomes a habit.
🎯 The Strategic Payoff: Real Business Value
So what’s the ultimate value? Clients often point to one thing:
“We now know where the real battlegrounds will be over the next 2–3 years – and we know how to address them.”
Depending on timing, Wargaming can serve different strategic purposes:
- If held before strategic planning, it serves as a great input to the process.
- If done after planning, it helps adjust focus and shift resources to areas with the greatest strategic potential.
In both cases, it sharpens decision-making and helps companies to be more proactive and ahead of the competition.
🧭 What I’ve Learned as a Facilitator
As someone who facilitates these sessions, I’ve learned one important truth:
Never assume!
You can come in with hypotheses, but the real breakthroughs happen in the room – when industry insiders bring their knowledge, experience, and creativity to the table.
Every workshop teaches me something new. And each time, I adjust and refine the process based on what we discover together.
💬 Why Wargaming Matters More Than Ever
If your team is heading into a planning cycle – or just navigating a turbulent competitive landscape – Wargaming can bring a new level of clarity, cohesion, and strategic insights.
It’s not just a workshop. It’s a way to uncover what you don’t know you don’t know – before your competitors do.
Curious what Wargaming might reveal in your organization? Let’s talk