On February 24, 1991, elements of the US Army’s VII Corps launched one of the most successful military operations in the history of modern warfare.  VII Corps’ mission in operation Desert Storm (the 1990 Gulf War) was to attack and defeat Iraqi army units in southern Iraq.  To accomplish this mission, VII Corps’ strategy called for most of its forces to advance into Iraq to the west of the main Iraqi defenses and then turn east and attack the western flank of the Iraqi forces.  VII Corps’ strategy worked better than anyone expected.  The VII Corps attack lasted 89 hours, and by the time it was over, the better part of eleven Iraqi army divisions lay decimated in the wake of the VII Corps advance. 

Such an overwhelming victory could not have been won without a well-conceived strategic plan.  To achieve success in Desert Storm, VII Corps’ commanders had to plan and coordinate the actions of 146,000 US and British soldiers and almost 50,000 vehicles.  And the strategic planning was not limited to actual combat operations.  For every day of offensive combat operations, VII Corps’ forces needed 5.6 million gallons of fuel, 3.3 million gallons of water, and over 6,000 tons of ammunition.  These and other supplies had to be transported in trucks, and those trucks had to keep up with rapidly advancing combat forces.  This meant that VII Corps’ strategic plan had to specify where supply bases would be located and how support troops and supplies would be protected from Iraqi attacks.

Business leaders do not, of course, face the literal life or death competition confronted by the commanders of VII Corps in Desert Storm.  But companies do face competition on a daily basis that is becoming increasingly intense.  And while most business leaders do not routinely face issues as complex as those presented by operation Desert Storm, all company leaders—even leaders of small and midsized companies—are facing issues that are becoming more and more complex.  In the face of increasing complexity and intensifying competition, strategy has never been more critical to business success.