It is always interesting to come back to the Sun Tzu’s principles which are still so relevant today. The lessons we can learn from it in the business world help us understand the reasons for our dysfunctions in order to make the right decisions and improve.
Here are these 10 principles and their parallel in the company to correct and put its efforts in the right direction.
Strategy is like water that flees the heights and fills the hollows…
Sun Tzu
First of all, you have to keep in mind that “winning without fighting is always the best solution“. This is why we must strive every day to anticipate these factors, identify them well before they do irreversible damage and act in the right direction for the good of the company, its employees and its employees. clients.
The 10 key factors of defeat in war or in business
- Underestimation of the enemy.
The company operates in a market driven by an existing offer. You should never underestimate your competitors. A piece of advice that adds to the principle that you should always compare your strengths and weaknesses with your competitors by integrating the notion of leadership: Do not underestimate the talent, courage and intelligence of the management in place.
2. Ignorance of the terrain.
Lack of knowledge of markets and their evolutions weakens the company, which is why we must keep an informed eye on everything that is happening and anticipate new opportunities and threats to adapt. Knowing your terrain well is analyzed in terms of distance (location), difficulty or ease of movement (accessibility), dimension (attractiveness), and security (the political, social, economic and sanitary environment).
3. Confidence in the weather conditions.
When we talk about weather, we are talking more specifically about the seasons. The parallel of the company is made through the life cycles of the markets of its sector of activity. Pay close attention to the confidence in the growth of the markets. Depending on the life cycle of the markets, the approach will be completely different. Like the cycle of the seasons, we must pay attention to the shorter cycles of growth which announce a cycle of maturity before the announced decrease: Knowing how to pass each cycle correctly.
4. Ignorance or disregard of intelligence.
Informing yourself about your environment is important in the absence of contempt or ignorance of market research, information on competitors which often leads in the wrong direction. Studying your environment on a regular basis to establish and correct your action plan is essential. To be successful, you have to make sure you know your competitors well without them actually knowing you.
5. Inability to decide quickly.
There are many causes for this factor, but in business, the waste of time and indecision have terrible repercussions on the business. Always keep in mind to simplify organizations as much as possible to be agile and make decisions quickly and above all to empower the field teams, those who are in contact with customers.
6. Strong taste for frontal attack.
During difficult and complicated times for the business, an easy way out is the natural tendency for price wars. On the contrary, to ensure its success, the company must absolutely differentiate itself and therefore opt for a strong differentiating know-how so the price cannot be compared and therefore contested.
7. Refusal to adapt plans to circumstances.
The agile company which adapts easily does not cling to a single method but changes it in relation to events. One of the factors of failure that we know is the rigidity of strategic plans, ineffective reporting in the company. Establishing a permanent questioning is an art to be developed to ensure its survival.
8. Internal dissensions and rivalries.
The lack of cooperation between departments, functions or services has a very strong influence on the management of the company. The leader, the manager, has this heavy responsibility through virtues of intelligence, reliability, humanity, courage and severity. Indispensable values in the company that must be properly valued and just like a good recipe, there must be a good balance !
9. Loss of initiative and rhythm.
In many ways, in the company, one of the factors of failure is the absence of innovation. Relying on what has been learned and not asking the right questions increases the risk of failure. To do this, we must develop the contribution of new ideas, creativity within teams, know how to listen to our market and therefore the comments of our customers in order to give ourselves the means to invest in new solutions. Technology and digital at the service of customers is one of the current challenges to project the company into the future.
10. Lack of luck.
Lack of luck is one of the factors of defeat as, conversely luck can explain a success! Strategy teaches wisdom. Thinking strategically does not mean planning everything and only understanding relationships in terms of power relations. Creativity, sensitivity and freedom are essential with a good dose of agility and reactivity: “luck is built and flair participates“.
It is not easy to summarize so many principles or even to explain them in detail, that is why, I advise to delve into the work, so many times translated, and advise you the following reference, in English “The Art of War – Sun Tzu – Translated by Thomas Cleary – Shambhala Dragon Editions “
Compiled over 2000 years ago by a mysterious warrior-philosopher, “The Art of War” is perhaps still the most prestigious and influential strategy book in the world today.
