Initiative

Initiative has both team and individual components.

From a team perspective, initiative is setting or dictating the terms of the fight throughout a game or scenario. Initiative implies an offensive spirit in all games. To set the terms of the fight, teams eliminate or reduce the number of opponent options. They compel the opponent to conform to their game goals and tempo, while retaining freedom of action. Initiative enables teams to act before and react faster than the opposition does.

From an individual perspective, initiative is the ability to be a self-starter, to act when there are no clear instructions or when the situation changes. An individual player with initiative is willing to decide and initiate independent actions when the team concept of the game no longer applies or when an unanticipated opportunity leading to the accomplishment of the team leader's intent presents itself. In the game, players exercise this attribute when they act independently within the framework of the team leader's intent. They trust their teammates to do the same. Disciplined initiative requires well-trained and competent leaders who carry out studied and considered actions.

Initiative requires delegating decision making authority to the lowest practical level. Team leaders give teammates the greatest possible freedom to act. They encourage aggressive action within the team leader's intent by issuing mission-type orders. Mission-type orders assign tasks to subordinates without specifying how to accomplish them. Such decentralization frees team leaders to focus on the critical aspects of the overall game or scenario. Using mission-type orders requires individual initiative exercised by well-trained, determined, disciplined players. It also requires leaders who trust their teammates and are willing to take and underwrite risks.