"Did wargaming help your decision-making? No..." Topic

You were asked – TMP link

Has wargaming improved your ability to make timely decisions in real life?

53% said "my speed of decision-making is the same"
14% said "my speed of decision-making has improved"
3% said "my speed of decision-making has declined"

It's not the speed that matters but the quality. When I was still part time college faculty we had a couple of presidents who would shoot from the lip. We got bad decisions. But…we got them very quickly, so there's that. Now. Living with them…

Agree it's not the "speed" of the decision but the quality of the decision making process. I believe the study of history in general and wargaming in particular was an immense help in my ability to make timely and rational decisions.

A decision vigorously pursued NOW is better then the perfect decision later.

Making a timely decision is different than making a quick one.

Timeliness is a function of the ability to take effective action after the decision in order to achieve your desired impact.

My personal experience is that most wargamers refuse to play a given scenario a second time, taking the opposite side in the game. This has helped me, drastically, to see things more clearly. I see my friends making false assumptions at nearly every game… They choose a viewpoint, and they then refuse to believe anything other than their limited perspective.

I've re-played scenarios, same forces, same terrain, same everything, but I took a command position on the opposite side of the table. I knew the strengths and weaknesses of my opponent's forces. I saw things drastically different because I changed my perspective. I wish more of my friends would be open to this. It really helps me to see things more objectively. Cheers!

In the late '70s and '80s, the group I gamed with played a lot of refereed, double-blind games with lots of players and two echelons of command. We had to organize ourselves, maneuver around a map board, find the enemy and often had logistical and political situations to consider. Eventually, the two (or more) armies would square off and fight a tabletop battle. I think that type of gaming experience did help me learn decision-making as a youngster. The far more prevalent – throw out some terrain, lay out two armies, charge, throw buckets of dice and be done in three hours – games we largely play today doesn't really lend itself to developing decision-making skills.

pjm

Let me see ?????? --- HMMMMMM?? -- Let me see ???? I will have to give this some thought and get back with you ???