Sun Tzu said “The art of war is of vital importance to the state. Therefore, it is of most significance in whether a state prospers or suffers ruins.” And so is the art of living to the outcomes of poverty and riches. This art is developed and practiced through the formation of habits.
When you do not know yourself well, and neither do you know your industry, you are like a general who does not know himself well, and neither does he know his enemy; defeat is guaranteed. If you know yourself and do not understand the industry, you will live by hit or miss – rare chances. You are like a General who reaches a stalemate because all your victories will be followed by defeats.
In strategy, you must do proper strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats (SWOT) analysis and develop an appropriate understanding of your environment. Lay proper plans that have strategic importance. Execute strategy based on understanding, not guesswork and assumptions.
Having understood your environment, and developed a workable strategy, execute the plans by releasing the information as needed. The ability to control information in the battlefield is called the business of the general. The awareness and understanding of strategy execution is the business of the leader.
The 12 lessons that I drew out of the Art of War are:
Masterly execution is key to success
Knowing when to evade, flee, hide, or escape from the battlefield is as important as knowing when to attack. If you are a beginner in business, be very wary as you undertake your strategy. Whenever you take on the market leader, be most cautious. Sometimes their retaliation can annihilate you.
Use coopetition to your advantage
Whenever needs be, smart Generals build alliances. When opportunities arise, find grounds to cooperate with your competitors. Hence the term coopetition.
Be tactful
First, ensure you are heavily garrisoned, then plan your attack. Cover your bases before you attack the competition. Even better, develop the vision to create as opposed to the desire to compete. Build your strengths, then watch industry shortfalls and make them your opportunities. “Measurement owes its existence to Earth; Estimation of quantity to Measurement; Calculation to Estimation of quantity; Balancing of chances to Calculation; and Victory to Balancing of chances.”
Utilize delegation
Utilize delegation out of the understanding that it takes the same principle to manage a company as it does to manage an army platoon or brigade. Master the fine art of dividing your staff into smaller groups and managing them as though they are just a few.
Information control
War is lost or won on intelligence. Control strategic information and release information on a graduated scale, as needed and according to urgency and importance.
Feasible organization
Once you have your objective in good standing, your strategy solidified, and the plans in place, organize the undertaking by communicating what shall be done, when and where it is to be done, who is responsible, and why it must be done. Leave a little flexibility on how it is to be carried out.
Flexible adaptability
When executing plans, accept the fact that things do change. When they do, deliver according to the world you meet, not the world you prepared for, which in many cases no longer exists. Watch opportunities and acquire or procure commensurate capabilities. While at it, guard against recklessness, hesitation, intemperance, irritability and over-sensitivity.
Favourable location
Location plays a key role in execution. Choose your battlefield and decide which best works for you. Act under your terms.
Be pliant
Your ability to change ahead of time as opposed to changing after the fact will put you ahead of other players. Be steadfast on where you want to go and adjust your sail according to the prevailing winds of the times.
Market knowledge
While playing in any market, develop a clear understanding of the market by culture and capacity. It does not matter how hip the culture is; you are not going to sell Ferraris to boys whose pockets are good for scooters.
Attack by fire
When you take an offensive, and you are sure with your tooling and capacity, go all out—the more deception (as far as your capacity goes) in your approach, the better.
Continue researching
Never stop knowing your customers – it is the most important industry information. Habitually watch for the likely futuristic changes in their culture and income levels. In the Art of War, this is called the continuous use of spies.
