Small Business Advice & Practical Help

Sun Tzu or Sun Zi (depending on translator) was the author of what is now called The Art of War written between 345 and 272 BC.  I love this book.  If you study it and understand the principles they can be applied to almost any endeavor.  Over the course of my life I’ve used the principles in The Art of War for playing chess, football, trail running, competitive orienteering, Texas Hold Em and all manner of business.  Business is a form of warfare.

To me this is so basic.  A foundation which all other thoughts about Business Strategy and Tactics originate from.  Many people are using aspects of The Art of War without knowing it!   They do not understand the basics of the the strategies they employ.  This means that you can defeat them in business with superior strategy and tactics.   Over the next few months we will articulate how and why.

Please feel free to join the conversation.  Add your thoughts, ask questions, dispute examples.  I defy you to prove that The Art of War does not apply to modern business.

To paraphrase Sun Tzu: “A CEO must be informed about all five of these factors*, but only he who truly understand them will be victorious, while those who fail to understand them will be defeated.”

In modern business terms the five factors are a type of SWOT model or PEST analysis.

1. Moral Influence = Organizational Moral and belief in Mission
2. Weather = “Outside Forces” as found in a PEST Analysis
3. Terrain = Marketplace, think of the 4 Ps.
4. Commander = Management structure / leadership
5. Doctrine = Principles

In our next installment we will expand on these concepts and also introduce the basic format that we shall be following.

You have this great idea blast in from left field and BOOM you’re off and running.  Sound like you or not?  If not, great!  If so let me tell you why following your gut alone is never a great idea…

True innovation is iterative and never a Eureka moment, it just feels that way.  Hunches or intuition are the cornerstone of every entrepreneur’s start or next great idea.  They are critical to success.  Just don’t trust them. Be honest with yourself for 30 seconds.  Aren’t hunches like penny stocks?  Sure, one might hit big, but 99 fall by the wayside.  Meanwhile your organization is suffering from whiplash.  They become big idea immune, trying to wait it out until the next big idea.  To read more about the value of hunches and why Steven Johnson asserts they are long-term forming click here.  To be successful in making quality Business Decisions you need to employ both Rocket Science and Decision Making Framework(s).  There are many type of Decision Making Frameworks.  Some are fairly specialized or task specific and should be used more or less for their expressed purposes, such as an Activity Based Cost tool.  Others, such as as SWOT Analysis are fairly commonly known if not applied.  We will quickly walk through some of the more popular tools and when and why to use them. Read more »

Don’t worry, be Happy!

Bumper Sticker!  You heard me; Twitter is the new Bumper Sticker.  Yes, most people spam Twitter with Narcissistic updates on their every move (please, we simply are not that interested Ashton…); however,  Social Media is growing exponentially and Twitter seems here to stay.  (I cannot believe I’m writing this…have never been a Twitter fan).  So why am I writing this? Read more »