As we celebrate the Declaration of Independence on July 4thday,this might be a time to reflect on the origins. While this drive for independence is rooted in traits such as courage, ambition, and spirit, strategy also played a role in the formation of the United States of America. While political and military strategy played an important role in 1776, to understand the origins of strategy we must go back even further.
The beginning of the strategy
Strategy arises from people’s need to defeat their enemies. The first treatise discussing strategy comes from the Chinese from 400 – 200 BC Sun Tzu’s Art of WarWritten in 400 B.C., Stratagem is widely regarded as the best work on military strategy, including works written centuries later. However, unlike the theoretical treatises that followed, the Chinese works take the form of narratives, both poetry and prose. An example of this strategic prose form can be seen in the poem of Laozi, the father of Taoism:
Once you master the intangible form
You’ll wander to where you want to go
fearless,
Calm, peaceful, relaxed.
The hub operates on an axle.
In a jar, it is the hole that holds water.
so there are benefits
from anything that exists;
But usefulness increases
from anything that does not exist.
While it may be difficult to identify the elements of strategy at first glance, a key principle discovered here is the importance of “no” because business strategy requires trade-offs – choosing “no”. What products will we not offer? Which customers will we choose not to serve? ETC.
The word “strategy” is indirectly derived from the Classical and Byzantine (330 AD) Greek “strategos” meaning “general”. Although the word is believed to have been invented by the Greeks, no Greeks ever used it. The Greek equivalent of the modern word “strategy” is “strategike episteme” or (general’s knowledge) “strategon sophia” (general’s wisdom). One of the most famous Latin works in the field of military strategy was written by Frontius and is titled in Greek strategy. strategy Describes a compilation of strategies or “tactics”, literally “techniques of war”. Roman historians also introduced the term “strategy” to refer to the territory controlled by ancient Athenian military commanders and war council members.
The word “strategy” retained this narrow geographical meaning until French military thinker Count Guibert introduced the term “La Strategique” (as it is understood today) in 1799. Therefore, both the military world before Count Gilbert and the business world before H. Igor Ansov (corporate strategy1965), could see the strategic elements in their field clearly enough to give it a name.
Perhaps the military figure who had the greatest influence on strategy was Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831). Clausewitz was a Prussian general who wrote: On warfocusing on two questions: What is war and what is the purpose of war? The Prussian general viewed the war as a duel between two independent minds. The key to Clausewitz’s strategy was to always be strong, first the whole, then the decisive point. Similar to business, disciplined focus needs to be maintained by making strategic trade-offs. As former eBay CEO Meg Whitman said: “Our strategy is as much about the art of exclusion as it is the art of inclusion.”
strategy and tactics
The complementarity of strategy and tactics determines their intertwined existence. In the military realm, tactics teach how to use armed force in an engagement, while strategy teaches how to use an engagement to achieve war goals. Just as the word “strategy” has its origins with the Greeks, so too does the word “tactics” have its origins with the Greeks. The original meaning of “tactics” is “order”, which literally means “the order of formations on the battlefield.” However, the current use of “strategy” and “tactics” originates from World War II.
“Strategic” relates to long-range aircraft and missiles, while “tactical” relates to short-range aircraft and missiles. Subsequently, the word “strategic” became associated with the purely accidental long-range quality that bombers might need to attack industrial targets in certain geographical areas from a distance. This, in turn, gives “tactics” a short-range aura. From a business perspective, the difference between strategy and tactics, which is more accurate and useful than time, is as follows: Strategy is how Generally speaking Achieve goals and how tactics are achieved Specifically reach a goal.
Strategy and War
Strategy arises from the need of peoples to defeat their enemies. Without enemies, there would be no need for military strategy. Keniche Ohmae, renowned Japanese business strategist and The mind of a strategist, It has been said that the sole purpose of strategy is to enable a company to gain a sustainable advantage over its competitors as efficiently as possible. When there is no competition, there is no need to have a strategy. In business, activities performed in a non-competitive environment are classified as operational activities.
Five levels of military strategy were developed in order to understand the war problems that commanders and their troops needed to solve. The five levels are:
- Technology: Weapon Interaction
- Tactics: Directly opposing forces engage each other; the nature of the terrain is key
- Operational: ideological struggle; combat encounter
- War Zone: Linking Military Power to Territorial Space; Satellite View
- Shanda: The confluence of interactions that flow up and down the strategic level to determine outcomes
These five levels provide military personnel with a common understanding framework for discussing their goals, objectives, and means of achieving them. While it is important to develop plans that are effective at all levels, recognizing that successful military strategy depends on the integration of ideas and activities at all levels is the true key to military victory.
In business, research shows that a lack of strategic processes and frameworks to communicate is the most common path to business failure, accounting for 80% of bankruptcies. Once strategic processes and frameworks are in place, they must cascade throughout the company’s various levels and functions to ensure everyone is working toward the same goals.
strategic paradox
In few areas has the use of paradox been as valuable as in military strategy. Bad roads are also good roads. The rocky coast is a safe place to land. Attacking at night offers the best chance of victory. The field of military strategy is full of paradoxes. Too often, the much-sought-after element of surprise is hidden in a paradox. A bad, impassable road may be the best option since the enemy least expects an attack from this road. The rocky coast is a safe place to land troops because the enemy has the fewest troops available for defence. Nighttime attacks can be the most dangerous for attackers, but the cover of darkness can catch enemies off guard.
Paradoxes in business strategy provide some interesting parallels. The easiest channels to reach customers are often the most crowded and therefore may not be as effective. The most difficult and complex sales are often the most intrinsically and financially rewarding because making them requires differentiation and courage. Challenging customers may prove to be very valuable in the long run because you are forced to create new processes or services to serve them.
embrace uncertainty
Strategy development requires a willingness to embrace uncertainty. As the French say, strategy is the art of conducting war, not through a coup d’état (glimpsing or seeing) after Malta, not an office on a map. Strategists must acknowledge that they will not have all the information and cannot see the scope of events, but remain committed to developing and implementing strategy. In business, a lack of data is often the culprit behind the inability to develop or implement new strategies. Going forward with determination doesn’t fill the void left by the lack of data, but it’s better than the remaining options sitting in the middle of the highway waiting to become a rival roadkill.
The military roots of strategy have had a decisive influence on the concept’s adoption and adaptation in the business world. Dating back to Chinese poetry and narratives from 400-200 BC, strategy has been an important determinant in shaping the political, social and commercial landscape of the world. The distinction between strategy and tactics, the understanding of strategic paradoxes, and the inherent uncertainty of strategy all add to the obvious influence of the military field on the concept of strategy as we know it today.
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