Enhancing Decision-Making with Red Teaming

Enhancing Decision-Making with Red Teaming

At the Center for Intelligence and Security Studies (CISS), we understand that even the most capable decision-makers can sometimes be blinded by their own strategies. Our perspectives, shaped by our upbringing, culture, and environment, may limit our ability to see alternative options. Red Teaming offers a structured approach to overcome these limitations.

What is Red Teaming?
Red Teaming emerged from lessons learned from military operations. It is designed to challenge assumptions, expose biases, and ultimately improve decision-making. The method is built on four core principles:
• Self-Awareness & Reflection
• Fostering Cultural Empathy
• Applied Critical Thinking
• Groupthink Mitigation & Decision Support

These principles enable organizations to develop more resilient and adaptive strategies, ensuring that decisions are not only well-informed but also robust under various scenarios.

Our Engagement with Red Teaming
In recent weeks, our team at CISS’s Research Program on Wargaming and Information Systems - Christian Nitzl, Aline Werro, and Sascha Geißler - had the opportunity to engage in discussions with key developers of the Red Teaming concept, Steven Rotkoff and Kevin Benson.

Topics of discussion included:
• The role of metacognition and “thinking about thinking” in shaping effective planning and decision processes.
• How the integration of Red Teaming and Wargaming can lead to the development of more resilient plans.
• The balance between scientific rigor and creative application, emphasizing that while scientific methods provide essential tools, adaptability and creativity are crucial for their effective use.

Key Insights and Methodologies
Some of the fundamental approaches discussed include:
• Diverge before you converge: Encouraging the exploration of multiple perspectives before narrowing down options.
• Apply the familiar to the unfamiliar: Leveraging known tools and methods to navigate complex challenges.
• Positive deviance: Identifying and learning from unconventional success stories.
• Separate the source of an idea from the idea: Evaluating concepts based on their merit rather than their origin.

Techniques such as the Four Ways of Seeing, Pre-Mortem Analysis, and Devil’s Advocacy ensure that Red Teaming is not merely an academic exercise but a practical tool for improving decision outcomes.

Learn More
For those interested in deepening their understanding of these concepts, we recommend exploring the comprehensive framework provided in the Red Team Handbook.

Our commitment at the Research Program Wargaming and Information Systems is to foster an environment where informed, resilient decision-making is the norm. We believe that integrating methods like Red Teaming into our processes can significantly enhance our strategic capabilities in an ever-changing world. We strive to combine the practical experience and expertise of practitioners with scientific knowledge to improve the tools used in daily tasks and address challenges in a complex world.

None of this would be possible without the generous support of practitioners like Steven Rotkoff and Kevin Benson, who kindly share their invaluable experience.

Picture: © iStockphoto | matejmo