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What Strategy Secret Can You Learn From Great Military Leaders?
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Eric Barker
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Oct 7, 2014 4:01 AM CUT
Forward march
Forward marchblackwaterimages—Getty Images
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Eric Barker
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Oct 7, 2014 4:01 AM CUT
Successful strategy is about surprise.
Running straight at a problem when it’s well established is suicide. Throughout military history frontal assaults against prepared defenses have failed.
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History says you need an element of surprise. Almost all successful attacks have hit enemies from the rear, from the flank, or anywhere it is not expected:
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And:
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If you’re a little David against a big Goliath, it’s definitely about surprise. You need to break the rules to win.
When underdogs play by the rules, they lose 72% of the time. When they break with established strategy and innovate, they win 64% of the time.
Via Power:
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So how do you engineer surprise? Deliberately mislead the enemy.
In his classic The Art of War, Sun Tzu said “All warfare is based on deception“:
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Deception is key. You’d be smart to heed the words of The Godfather: Keep your friends close — and your enemies closer.
Research shows dominant leaders really do exactly that:
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This piece originally appeared on Barking Up the Wrong Tree.
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