Newsletter # 23 - Force Multipliers (FM)

Can you give examples of some “Force Multipliers” in business? How can I use these to make my team more effective? M.

I would be happy to help M.

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In the US Army, snipers are considered to be one example of a “Force Multiplier”. (FM) What does that mean?

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If you have a sniper, and a regular soldier. Both have a gun. Both shoot a bullet from the gun. The soldier may take out a single enemy soldier. The sniper will take out a higher-value target, making their bullet more ‘effective”.

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How does this happen?

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In the late 1980s, part of the training for a US Army sniper was mental, not just pulling the trigger flawlessly. Consider the following scenario:

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You have your spotter, your weapon, and one bullet. Down range, but within range of your weapon is an enemy general. Beside that general is his wife, his young daughter, his young son, and his favorite pet dog. Where do you aim your bullet?

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Typically the answers are the General. But a force multiplier (FM) sometimes doesn’t want to replace the general, just make them ineffective. If you kill the general, someone will quickly be promoted to take their place.

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Depending on the nationality of the general, it may be more effective to shoot the daughter or the son.

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The wife, is not typically an option as they are not the best choice.

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The dog is actually the proper shot to take.

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It leaves the general alive.

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It leaves the general distraught and angry, possibly leaving them no logical faculties to think with in their grief. It may make them send all of the troops under their command after the sniper to get revenge.

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But this removes all those soldiers from the battlefield.

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One bullet but much more forceful than the “normal soldier’s” typical bullet.

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This is also shown by using your muscles with and without a pulley system. (Like at the top of the newsletter.)

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By using the pulleys you can “lift” much more than you can with your muscles alone. By adding pulleys, you can substantially increase the amount of work that your muscles can do.

How do we already have this experience and/or knowledge?

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Typically a CEO is also a force multiplier. Think of all the times someone has come to your CEO and wants to have a meeting with the CEO as being able to ‘close the deal’ because the CEO is the top of your company.

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Typically Marketing and your company website are also force multipliers.

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But the difficulty of FMs, is that similar to a two-edged sword, they are capable of harming or helping, but in outsized ways to their effort.

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For instance, the Marketing department accidently updates your website, but there is an error. They mark a price down by over 90% on accident.

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All of a sudden, you are sold out of that one thing and down over 40% with your margins on that product.

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You website, a force multiplier allowing many of your customers to be serviced in multiple ways for Quoting, Service, Information, Purchasing, Returns, etc. – The website can also be a force multiplier for your customers to take advantage of any of your errors.

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Before you are able to adapt and recover from the error, the customers have taken all of your errors to max out the effect of this as fast as possible.

If you take examples of Donald Trump and Elon Musk and how they deal with their multiple vendors, advertisers, contractors and employees.

Elon at a New York Times event in November 2023, took umbrage with the advertisers that had fled from Twitter when the hate and bigots, and the bots took over in a big way.

The new Twitter CEO, Linda Yaccarino, is now trying to recover from the force multiplier effects of Mr. Musk. But as other studies could tell you, she will have to work approx. 10 times harder to overcome the ‘efforts’ of Mr. Musk in how he wants to run Twitter now.

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A senior engineer, leading a team of other very experienced engineers are also Force Multipliers. Any leader, or communicator, any individual action that can affect multiple things or customers is a Force Multiplier.

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An Ad campaign, a discount promotion, an open-house, a grand opening, or re-opening – These are all force multipliers.

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Force Multipliers are all around us.

How can I apply this knowledge?

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First, by remembering that your actions/decisions/words have consequences.

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Flame off at a customer, and you may have more issues than lagging sales numbers.

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Make a list of all the tasks you regularly do during a week at work.

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Which ones enable you to have more of an impact than you do currently?

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Which ones are repeatable? Even with variation. For example, most traded (stocks) companies fill out an Annual Report every year. (Repeatable) But things change in the report, every year.

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However, if people have an eye towards the report that WILL happen every year, and their contribution to it, they might act differently, give more (or less) information – all in prep for the annual report that comes around.

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If they can be repeated, even with variation, then they MIGHT just be automate-able.

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If you can automate your Force Multipliers, it is like having Amazon Prime Day 24/7/365.

Be Present, Be Aware, Think Ahead.

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I hope this helped M.

Don’t forget to submit any of your questions to me if you want an answer.

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Stay Safe, and Stay Sane.