“Relax, look around, make a call.” – Jocko Willink
The third Law of Combat addresses what happens when everything goes wrong at once – which, in combat, happens regularly. When a team faces multiple problems simultaneously, the natural human response is panic. People try to solve everything at once, which means nothing gets solved effectively.
Jocko describes a particularly chaotic operation in Ramadi where his task unit faced simultaneous crises. A SEAL element was pinned down by enemy fire from multiple positions. An IED had detonated, wounding a teammate. An Iraqi partner unit was out of position and not responding to radio calls. Air support was unavailable due to other operations in the area. And enemy reinforcements were moving toward their position.
Any single one of these problems would have demanded full attention. Together, they created an overwhelming situation that could easily have led to catastrophe. The natural response was to try to address everything simultaneously – to spread attention and resources across all problems at once.
Instead, Jocko applied the principle he had learned through years of training: Prioritize and Execute. He took a breath, assessed the situation, identified the highest priority problem (the wounded teammate needed immediate medical attention and extraction), communicated it clearly to his team, and directed all available resources toward solving that one problem first.
Once the wounded operator was stabilized and moving toward extraction, Jocko reassessed. The next priority was suppressing the enemy fire pinning down his element. He directed fire and coordinated with adjacent units. Once that threat was reduced, he addressed the next problem, and the next.
By tackling one problem at a time in order of priority, the team worked through a situation that could have been catastrophic and accomplished the mission with all personnel accounted for.
When overwhelmed by multiple problems, a leader must step back, identify the highest priority problem, develop a solution, direct the team to execute that solution, then move to the next problem. Trying to solve everything simultaneously leads to paralysis or, worse, solving nothing.
Prioritize and Execute is fundamentally anti-multitasking. The human brain, despite popular belief, is not capable of effectively addressing multiple complex problems simultaneously. When leaders try to multitask under pressure, they do everything poorly rather than one thing well. The cognitive load of switching between problems reduces the quality of decision-making on each one.
In combat, this can be fatal. In business, it leads to poor decisions, half-finished projects, and burned-out teams. The discipline to focus on one priority at a time, even when other problems are demanding attention, is one of the most important skills a leader can develop.
The best leaders don’t just react to problems – they anticipate them. During the planning phase, effective leaders identify the most likely contingencies and think through their priorities in advance. This “pre-gaming” of priorities means that when chaos strikes, the leader already has a mental framework for what to do first.
This kind of thinking doesn’t eliminate the need for real-time Prioritize and Execute, but it dramatically reduces the cognitive load when problems actually occur.
Leif describes a technology company in the midst of a critical product launch. On launch day, three major problems surfaced simultaneously: a critical bug was discovered in the software, a key supplier failed to deliver essential components, and a major customer threatened to cancel their order due to a misunderstanding about product features.
The CEO panicked. He called an all-hands meeting and tried to address all three problems at once. Different teams were pulled in different directions. Engineers were split between fixing the bug and addressing the customer’s technical concerns. Sales was simultaneously trying to manage the customer relationship and source alternative suppliers. Nothing was getting resolved.
When the CEO was coached to Prioritize and Execute, the situation immediately improved. He identified the highest priority: the critical software bug, because without a working product, nothing else mattered. All engineering resources were focused on the fix. Meanwhile, he delegated the supplier issue to his VP of Operations and the customer issue to his VP of Sales, with clear instructions to stand by until he could give them his full attention.
The bug was fixed within hours. The CEO then shifted focus to the supplier issue, resolving it by end of day. Finally, he personally addressed the customer concern, which turned out to be a simple miscommunication that was quickly resolved. By the end of the week, all three crises were resolved – something that would not have happened if the CEO had continued trying to address everything simultaneously.
The leaders who are most effective at Prioritize and Execute share a common trait: composure. They remain calm when others panic. This calmness is not natural for most people – it is trained. Through repeated exposure to high-pressure situations (in training, in combat, or in demanding business environments), leaders develop the ability to step back from chaos, think clearly, and act decisively.
Composure under pressure is a skill, not a personality trait. It can be developed through deliberate practice. Put yourself in challenging situations. Train for the worst-case scenario. When stress arrives, notice your physical response (elevated heart rate, shallow breathing, tunnel vision) and consciously counter it (deep breaths, relaxing your shoulders, widening your field of view). Over time, your baseline response to chaos shifts from panic to focused calm. That calm is what allows you to Prioritize and Execute when everyone else is overwhelmed.