Lessons from the US Navy SEALs: How Planning, Adaptability, and Execution Can Lead to Success in Research

Building a research team takes planning, execution, and the ability to adapt as you learn.

Just like the US Navy SEALs.

Context:

Osama Bin Laden was a bad person.

• He founded al Qaeda, a global terrorist organization
• He is responsible for bombing the World Trade Center in 1993
• He is responsible for bringing both towers of the World Trade Center to the ground in 2001

He killed thousands of innocent men, women, and children.

And I’m sure you’ve heard the story about his demise.

On May 2nd, 2011, at 1:00 am PKT, a team of Navy SEALs executed a carefully constructed plan to storm Bin Laden’s compound.

The amount of planning that went into ensuring the ideal outcome was significant.

CIA operatives first caught wind of Bin Laden’s whereabouts in August 2010, nearly a full year before the operation culminated in success.

That year was full of reconnaissance, data analysis, and strategic assessment.