by Alex Roldan
In today’s fast and ever changing world, would you believe that military metaphors are at all times projected from your computer screen and even created in your brain’s crevices when responding to business challenges? Dark images penetrate your mind in anticipating what could happen, your muscles tighten, and like a warrior advancing to combat, you prepare to engage with your market.
Modern jargons emerge from everywhere that are analogous to waging wars, like guerrilla marketing, market penetration, market domination, competitive intelligence and many more. Words that imply strategies for a single purpose: win the market war. And, at the end of the day, you feel like you have been in battle.
I am sure many business leaders have adequate understanding of these metaphors of war and how these can be applied to business. Sun Tsu’s Art of War has been used extensively by many successful politicians and businessmen. Many may not know it, but unknowingly they are actually applying the Art of War principles. It may be the oldest military treatise in the world, yet modernity has failed to debunk its philosophy. I may be sharing already known principles but, I prefer to share it with you, again.
The Art of War is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one’s deliberation, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field. These are the moral law, heaven, earth, the commander, and method and discipline.
The first factor, the moral law is central because this makes the team be in complete accord with their leader. I did several organizational diagnosis sessions in the past and the most common problem that would immediately emerge is the attitude of the personnel towards the effort of management to make their business excel over the rest. When asked about the company’s goals, the common response from the rank and file, and even from some mid-level positions, is that those at the top are only interested in raking in more profits! But how about them, why are they still there working for the company? It is because they need the job nothing less, nothing more.
Situations like this clearly stems from the failure of the system in the business to make everyone feel that they are on a single ship with a common purpose. Meaning, not only understanding, but making everyone believe, accept and apply the company’s purpose, values and philosophy in work and even in their lives. Sadly, many framed mission and vision statements have ended as elegant wall decorations in company premises.
Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons. It tells about the market conditions and effectively helps you determine what are the best strategies and the needed preparations.
Earth comprises distance, danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death. Though aptly prepared, one must realize and accept the fact that if there is success, so is failure. Determining the obstacles in the market may not be enough, but a good business leader must be prepared for any eventuality and is at all times ready to make necessary adjustments to prevent complete disaster.
The Commander for Sun Tzu, stands for virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage and strictness. Business leaders should behave like a commander not just in rank, but he should be able to show to his team that he has the qualities of a leader. A good judgment and decisions may seem to work but not enough. The leader must be able to show to his men that he is also human, not different from the rest, who just happens to be given the opportunity to lead them, and demands respect not for himself but for his role.
The method and discipline would cap everything to make the business succeed. It is about organizing your team in its proper subdivisions, the graduation of rank among officers, effective support system, and cost control. This one needs no further explanation, but, don’t be too presumptuous, a badly organized team would make the business inefficient and wasteful. This is a common failure of business. Best people can only optimize their potentials in a condition where the line of command is clear and definite of their specific roles of what the business want to achieve. Motivating each member to perform beyond what is expected would be a breeze if each member knows his/her respective place in the overall effort –have full understanding of the individual and team’s contribution to the success of the business.
War is just a metaphor for the application of force. By understanding the nature of war, you can apply this understanding to business. Find ways to activate the warrior energy within you. Use it as a force for good. This is the challenge of the modern entrepreneur.
For comments, e-mail to: roldanalex@yahoo.com
