Small Business Revolution

9Vulnerabilities

THE MILITARY AND intelligence communities have a concept called red teaming. It comes from when war-game scenarios are run. Let's say we were in the Cold War and we needed to know that we could counter a threat from the former Soviet Union. The U.S. military had red teams that were Americans who specialized in knowing everything about Soviet tactics. Their whole mission was to think like Soviets, dress like them, and use Soviet equipment, so when there was a war game, the red team's job was to defeat the American forces.

This concept has found its way into the business lexicon. When you red team your plans, you look for vulnerabilities in them. You ask, “What are we assuming? What could go wrong? Where are we most at risk?”

Maybe you have no active opponent working to thwart your plans. Even so, we all know about Murphy's Law, which says: “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” There is a hugely positive aspect to recognizing the negatives—the vulnerabilities—so you can plan around them.

This is exactly what the Deluxe team were focused on in Season 3, Episode 7, which was about Lighthouse Sounds. The owners, Jay Stanley and Alex St. Cin, worked hard to make Lighthouse a success. They contributed different things: Jay primarily was the money partner and Alex was the expert sound engineer.

Even though they were friends and partners, there was no written agreement between them about who owned and controlled what. It may seem awkward and even mildly rude ...