Category Archives: Wisdom
STRATEGY: Exchange the role of guest for host
Look beyond the immediate battle and build on a position of weakness to take control.
I was watching my favorite childhood cartoon movie, GI Joe, yesterday and was reminded of a very powerful strategy that the terrorist organization Cobra uses in most of the cartoons that can be applied in business. If you’re not familiar with GI Joe, Cobra Commander is the leader of the terrorist group know as Cobra and Destro is his 2nd in command (both are in the picture above) but in the movie Destro is the commander while Cobra Commander is the brains behind the weapons they’ll use to takeover the world.
The MARS (aka Cobra) organization is the world’s largest supplier of weapons and Destro is it’s CEO. Cobra Commander takes an inferior position by being able to use Destro’s resources to build a technologically advanced terrorist organization that is of his own making.
This is important to know because Cobra Commander is really just waiting in the wings for Destro’s downfall to take over. Up to this point every weapon Destro’s MARS organization has was designed by Cobra Commander himself and as any good strategist has been influencing every decision the organization has taken before he takes power.
When he finally takes power nothing really changes since he’s planned all of this from the beginning to be this way.
This strategy is called ‘exchanging the role of guest for host’.
This is a very powerful strategy because you start by seeming weaker than the person or business you are trying to take, but in doing so you build on a position of weakness to take control. It’s a deceptive strategy but when well executed opens up a lot of options for you because in reality you are the one in control when giving it up.
Microsoft was born from taking a subordinate position to IBM.
Why this is important to you.
Because you want something and there’s always going to be obstacles standing in your way and most of the time you lack the patience to see the bigger picture. Your natural instincts will tell you to focus on the present and the faster you can get what you want the better, instead look at the big picture and see how taking an inferior position right now can benefit you in the long run by using others resources to your benefit.
There are endless applications of this devastating strategy, have you used this strategy before?
There is no normal. Everyday is a crisis
There is no secret formula to mastering change but we can start by accepting that change is always constant. Last week I was in Ninjutsu class and sensei said something very interesting that got me thinking:
Humans have been in crisis everyday since we created fire.
He was referring to the fact that ninjas were trained to adapt and survive, but there’s something much deeper we can learn from this.
Ninjutsu was born in a time of turmoil in Japan and by it’s nature is fluid and non-linear, it was created on the assumption that war is unpredictable and so you must adapt to changing conditions intuitively.
As a society we are faced with tremendous challenges right now because as humans we fall into the mindset that some events are preceded by other events, this is flawed.
Instead of thinking of the world where the present is determined by the past, we must adopt the mindset that change is continuous and unending. Ninjutsu is an art of war and in war there isn’t a normal state, you have to be constantly adapting and changing to circumstances which are out of your control. It is less and art of prediction and more of anticipation where you become part of your surroundings as much as your opponent.
You reinvent yourself by adapting to what’s happening around you and gain power by being able to constantly shift and adjust. By being fast and non-linear we stay ahead of our opponents and adapt to opportunity because standing still means death.
So what we should do is not wait for the storm to pass but act and behave as if the storm is always here.
To each his own
Andy Sernovitz always posts interesting stories on his blog, and his latest one is about how a baby was born at 2,000 feet on an AirAsia flight and the airline the gave mom and boy free flights for life. This is remarkable!
This airline has created a couple of very happy customers for life, to which Andy ends the post asking:
How do you become legendary?
I answered the call and got a response.
Everyone has their own preferences and are entitled to do whatever makes them happy, but in my opinion sometimes people follow the same dreams as others. The common man’s dream.
If you follow everyone else’s dreams then who are you? Blaze your own trail!
I believe that:
You become legendary by doing what others are unwilling to do.
You become legendary by not following conventional wisdom.
You become legendary by exceeding expectations.
You become legendary by creating your own rules.
You become legendary by creating new possibilities where others see none.
You become legendary by being better every day.
You become legendary by making others better everyday.
You become legendary by making people happy everyday.
How’s your legend growing?
10 Lessons in Fearlessness
Have you read the 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction and the 33 Strategies of War? If you haven’t, you should!
Author Robert Greene wrote those books and just a few weeks ago his newest book, written with 50 Cent, hit the shelves. I haven’t read the book (it’s on my wish list) but in the above presentation 10 essential lessons from the book are distilled.
Must read books for entrepreneurs
Are you looking for some new reading material that can help you be a better entrepreneur?
A few days ago venture capitalist Fred Wilson posted a few books he thinks upcoming entrepreneurs should read, from over 150 comments came more suggestions and a list of must read books for entrepreneurs was born.
You should know that these are not pure business books but a combination of novels and fiction books with great stories.
Get a coach to give you perspective
The Hit ipod DOA: Dead or Alive dvd
One thing people are never good at is seeing themselves as others see them.
Here’s a great piece of advice from Google CEO Eric Schmidt:
The advice that sticks out I got from John Doerr, who in 2001 said, "My advice to you is to have a coach." The coach he said I should have is Bill Campbell. I initially resented the advice, because after all, I was a CEO. I was pretty experienced. Why would I need a coach? Am I doing something wrong? My argument was, How could a coach advise me if I’m the best person in the world at this? But that’s not what a coach does. The coach doesn’t have to play the sport as well as you do. They have to watch you and get you to be your best. In the business context a coach is not a repetitious coach. A coach is somebody who looks at something with another set of eyes, describes it to you in [his] words, and discusses how to approach the problem.
Watch the rest of the Best Advice videos from Fortune for more useful insights.
How to be a better leader in 20 minutes
It’s not common when you come across a blog post that makes you want to take action immediately…I found one today!
Come Hell or Highwater dvdrip The Thomas Crown Affair movie Do you know what your employees values are and what motivates them?
A very important question that very often leaders have a hard time answering. Knowing what people value and what their motivations are is a lever a leader can push to bring out the best in others.
Frode Heimen suggests a 20 minute exercise to gain insight into what makes your employees tick
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The exercise is very simple and engaging:
- Ask an employee to write down the names of four people who have had a huge positive impact on his life — peoples he respects, admires, or looks up to. The people can be famous, familiar,real or fictional, dead or alive.
- Ask your employee about each name, one at a time. Ask open questions to get them to tell you as much as possible. Who is this person? Why is he or she important to you? What qualities does this person hold? Once you figure out why your employee has named this person, write down the key values revealed.
- When you’re done with the exercise, notice the 3 most common values and you will have the core values of the other person as we tend to be drawn to people whose qualities mirror our own.
How to put the results to use
Frode suggests:
“She got legs and she knows how to use them” – A line from an old ZZ Top song, focus on the strengths. This is the key. If safety and family values are strong, the person might need to know that the job is safe, and this is something you should emphasize during talks. If ambitions and winner instincts are strong, they will love to get feedback on how to improve, and when they do great it is important to show that you notice it. It would be a great boost for them to know that they are close to achieving their goals or to beat competition. Others might need a predictable day at the office; others should focus on the well being of others all this will be known out of this piece of paper.
This is an invaluable exercise!
CJ7 film Try it on yourself first and then try it with a close friend, wife, husband, family, you’ll immediately feel a surge of energy going through your veins when the other person is expressing themselves!
