Are you the underdog?
Malcolm Gladwell has written a insightful article on competitive strategy,on how David beats Goliath by challenging the conventions of how battles are supposed to be fought.
Using examples from basketball, military war games and anecdotes of military history, Gladwell exposes ways that inferior teams have used unconventional tactics to break the rules and beat superior opponents.
How underdogs break the rules:
- When underdogs choose not to play by Goliath’s rules, they win.
- David can beat Goliath by substituting effort for ability.
- Brake the rhythm of encounters to match your speed.
- Effort can trump ability.
- Relentless effort is in fact something rarer than the ability to engage in some finely tuned act of motor coordination.
- Always challenge the conventions of how battles are supposed to be fought.
- Bring your own rules to the game.
Key Takeaway:
Effort can trump ability and conventions are made to be challenged.
Although the article doesn’t explicitly state it, speed and agility are the hallmarks of the OODA Loop created by military strategist John Boyd. Which is used to get into your opponent’s decision cycle, and then use speed to break his rhythm…this gives strategists a unique advantage.
If you’re interested in how you can break the rules of the game by using real-time strategic thinking, I recommend your read about the OODA Loop (for Observe, Orient, Decide and Act)
