Not Every Opinion Matters
Marcus Aurelius on what to do with all the input You’re about to launch something. You’re excited. Confident. Until the opinions start rolling in. “Are you sure people will pay for that?” “I wouldn’t do it that way.” “Maybe you should rethink it…” And just like that, your momentum stalls. How many business decisions have […]
Win by Focusing
Sun Tzu on concentration as strategy “And if I concentrate while he divides, I can use my entire strength to attack a fraction of his.” — Sun Tzu You start a business eager to serve as many customers as possible. At first it seems like a smart decision. More customers should mean more sales. As […]
Win Where Others Aren’t Competing
Sun Tzu on hitting where they aren’t looking “Go into emptiness, strike voids, bypass what he defends, hit him where he does not expect you. To be certain to take what you attack is to attack a place the enemy does not protect.” — Sun Tzu You lower your prices. Customers still choose the bigger […]
Focus on What You Can Control
Sun Tzu and the Serenity Prayer agree This morning I read this: “That which depends on me, I can do; that which depends on the enemy cannot be certain.” — Sun Tzu The passage reminds me of the Serenity Prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to […]
Timing is Everything
Sun Tzu on when to move and when to wait “He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.” Timing can make or break a business. Sun Tzu understood this well. Acting too soon wastes resources. Waiting too long risks losing your advantage. For small business owners, knowing when to act […]
Passing the Torch
Sun Tzu on choosing who runs the business next “The wrong person cannot be appointed to command. Lin Hsiang-ju, the Prime Minister of Chao, said: ‘Chao Kua is merely able to read his father’s books, and is as yet ignorant of correlating changing circumstances. Now Your Majesty, on account of his name, makes him the […]
Meetings That Matter
Sun Tzu on the cost of mobilizing people “In the operations of war, where there are in the field a thousand swift chariots, as many heavy chariots, and a hundred thousand mail-clad soldiers, with provisions enough to carry them a thousand li, the expenditure at home and at the front… will reach the total of […]
Competent Leadership, Cohesive Teams
Sun Tzu on what happens when leaders don’t know the work This morning I read this from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War: “If one ignorant of military matters is sent to participate in the administration of the army, then in every movement, there will be disagreement and mutual frustration, and the entire army will […]
Decision-Making from the Battlefield
Sun Tzu on why distant decisions miss This morning I was reading The Art of War and came across this: “No evil is greater than commands of the sovereign from the court.” Sun Tzu warns against leaders making decisions far removed from the realities of the battlefield. For small business owners, the lesson is direct: […]