One of my first squad leaders was an old Vietnam vet. He taught me an important early lesson in bootcamp that I’ll never forget and still use to this day.

Every time we all used to go out on patrol or training, this old man would always throw something new at us. He would expect us to find solutions to problems on our feet, and we were often left puzzled. “How the heck do you want us to solve this problem?†We would ask him. It turns out, he knew exactly what he was doing.

He told us that the one thing we needed to learn was field expediency. I had never heard that term before, but he broke it down for us in a way that we could quickly pick up. Whenever we would be in a combat situation, we would often have to make immediate decisions and change our course of action. We might need to find a solution to a life or death problem that would end up saving the life of one of our buddies. We had to find a solution with the resources at hand, there was no question.

The concept of field expediency has stayed with me over the last 30 years. It’s a valuable mindset that can end up changing the way you conceptualize everyday situations. At the end of the day, it’s nothing more than just thinking creatively to come up with a solution that probably isn’t very conventional. We usually have some valuable tools at our disposal that we might not have even considered if we didn’t think differently.

A young troop will enter the battlefield with only his rucksack and its contents. Even so, he has the power to make a large impact in the tide of battle. In business, this translates over to building layouts, services, people, and materials being used in ways that can end up changing the business landscape. It doesn’t matter if you are building, manufacturing, or servicing something—there are always strange challenges that will arise, and the person who leverages field expediency will devise a solution that not only works, but does so better and more efficiently (even with a shortage of traditional resources).

One strange request that recently crossed my desk was how to destroy and properly dispose of ballistic vests (body armor). When body armor becomes damaged or unsafe for use to the point that it no longer meets regulation, it must be taken out of circulation. It can’t simply be thrown away in the trashcan, and proper disposal isn’t very cheap at all. We are trying to devise a solution to this problem of destroying body armor more cheaply and efficiently.

Another problem that could possibly have a creative solution is drug disposal. The Border Patrol, US Customs, and DEA confiscate large amounts of drugs on a daily basis. They must be properly tracked and monitored after the fact for security reasons. Keeping the drugs under lock and key until they are disposed adds costs. I think I have a new solution that is quite different from what has been used as the traditional method. I am now in the process of presenting my idea to people who can take action.

Look at new services such as Uber and Airbnb—they are disrupting traditional businesses like taxicabs and hotels. Field expediency means finding a different way of doing something so it is better, cheaper, more efficient, and more convenient. Now, I can log on anywhere in the world with my Airbnb user ID to find a place to stay for the night. If I need to get somewhere, It’s just a matter of opening the Uber app on my smartphone.

I am thankful to my old squad leader for showing me the importance of field expediency. Some of the biggest successes in my career are a result of coming up with unorthodox solutions. In just about any line of business, it boils down to being prepared to take advantage of opportunities.

If you would like to talk more about how field expediency can make a difference in your success, contact me, Joe “VetBizMan†Perez, directly.

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