On Being Unfathomable & Controlling Your Competition

"An expert General [CEO] approaches his objective indirectly. He moves in an obscure manner, like a ghost in the starlight. He conceals his true condition and ultimate intent." --Chinese military saying

This has its roots in General Sun Tzu’s notion of being “unfathomable” where the enemy (a.k.a. your competition) doesn’t really understand what the hell you’re doing so it’s inefficient or even impossible to effectively plan against you, (e.g. the classic “when close, appear far away”). It helps you move your competition around, wasting their resources and saving yours. This helps you keep things short. The Chinese knew that no war is best but, failing that, keep it short. A short war is cheaper in all the ways war costs. This helps keep the people (shareholders, employees) on your side. Plus it’s fun.

So, being obscure about your process and goals can be a very useful thing. The Chinese also liked the notion of being like fog. It’s hard to see what’s going on inside fog. Inside you can move with intensity and precision but from the outside you’re invisible. It’s all about controlling movement on the field. Just don't forget fog's most important characteristic: eventually it always clears.

The point is a true Corporate Warrior is always acutely aware of exactly what their competition sees. Just ask yourself, “What does my competition see when they look at me?” and then think through how you can modify their actions by modifying your appearance. It’s probably easier and cheaper than you think.

Think about it.

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2012 is already looking good. Let's keep it up--we've got a government to support!

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This blog is produced by Tal Newhart