Debrief to Win: How America's Top Guns Practice Accountable Leadership...and How You Can, Too!: 3 (Vmax Group's Debrief-Focused Approach)

Two overall impressions: (1) Teschner is an accomplished fighter pilot who worked in a highly accountable culture, and (2) There was very little experience or practical application to make this work in a business where there is not imminent life-or-death issues. The stories of Top Gun Debriefs and how essential they are - not only to do, but to learn how to do for the greatest learning impact - was impressive. But, the beginning of the book felt like he was putting badges of validation from business authors, like Jim Collins and others. Debriefs based on "Commander Intent," clear objectives and the truth would certainly benefit a business who could setup the same culture and expectations, training leaders to debrief. I followed the Raptor Debrief in the context of flying fighter jets, but the transfer to business was very weak. I thought maybe the prize would be in Chapter 7 - An Example and Two Focused Case Studies, but was very disappointed. The Pizza Delivery example seemed to be one made up for the book (Who would hire a Consultant to teach debriefing about Pizza Delivery?), and the two case studies were real events (i.e. Academy Awards and Equifax), but not real examples of actually applying the Debrief process - they were imagined by the author as to how it might be applied. The whole approach caused me to think that Teschner has an amazing experience and is ready to consult, but has not actually successfully consulted to enable a Debrief cultural change within businesses. If he has, then he needs to consider rewriting the book with actual results and real life application lessons.

The book is well worth a read. For me I was less interested in the implementation than in the foundation. His examples do a fantastic job of demonstrating the environment for which any team and any leader should be striving. Perfect integrity and perfect psychological security exemplified. The idea that any member of the team can and should hold another member (including superiors) accountable for success and failure is uncomfortable to most. Yet imagine how much benefit this would be to your team. Acute, shared accountability of this flavor might make us all unstoppable.

Whether you're interested in getting better in business, and who isn't? Or interested in getting better in your personal life, this book is a must read. Col. Teschner's no BS approach reminds us that we do not have an endless supply of 'tomorrow's', and teaches us how to get better today, tomorrow and every day, for our teams, for our businesses, for our families, and for ourselves. It reads to good and too easy to be this important.

Great book! I had the pleasure of speaking with Robert a few months ago, and he's as amazing in person as he is in this book. Debriefing is something that I haven't historically put into practice throughout my life and with Rob's method he outlines, it can literally change the game and keep you from making the same mistakes over and over and over again. Well done sir!

It describes what really matters when you do something...analyze it in order to understand what went wrong or right and you will have a lesson identified which in time will be lesson learned!