The Importance of Military Strategy on Business
We are kicking off the new year at LeadingToWin.com by sharing an interesting Medium article from my co-author and colleague Roger Martin about the relevance and importance of military strategy to business strategy and the strengths and weaknesses of each approach.
You can Read Roger’s article here.
For some, it may be hard to accept the application of military strategy to business circumstances and conditions. But, I’ve found that an open mind and the willingness to learn concepts, principles and practices that are applicable to very different sectors and situations is one of the strengths of a Leading to Win leader and a Playing to Win business strategist.
I learned a lot about leadership throughout my five plus years of service in the US Navy in Asia. I learned about strategy during a long weekend in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania as the only invited business leader. I shared learnings with the defense department and military leaders on the concept, principles and application of strategy in the real world. I continue to learn about leadership and strategy by reading biographies and history, including military history and strategy.
I find there is significantly more substance in well researched and written history than in the vast majority of business books. So, I can enthusiastically recommend two short classic reads recommended by Roger: The Art of War by Sun Tzu and On War by Clausewitz. And, I can recommend a somewhat longer read by B. H. Liddell Hart called Strategy.
Coincidently, these three books introduce and discuss some of the same concepts and principles Roger and I extracted from our experiences - he as a business consultant and university business school dean, and I as an everyday practical business leader. These principles then forged into the Playing to Win five choices approach to business strategy: what is winning, where to play, how to win and what are must have capabilities and enabling management systems. (See image below).
I believe you will enjoy Roger’s take on the subject of business and military strategy. You may be surprised by some of the insights. They are as applicable and relevant in the world of business today as they have ever been:
The ultimate strategy to win is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
Exploiting the line of least expectation and least resistance is a proven strategy for winning.
Effective strategy outmaneuver‘s and outsmarts the opponent and victory/winning often emerges as a result of the enemy either defeating itself, giving up or withdrawing.
The PTW approach to business strategy enables companies to stakeout well-differentiated, ideally unique, positions — positions that create and sustain advantage against the most formidable competitors; positions that deliver better value to their customers and better value creation for their company employees and investors.
