Front-line strategy draws the critical distinction between competition and
conflict. Sun Tzu taught that the easiest way to win in competition is to
avoid conflict. Conflict usually arises only from a failure of strategic
awareness, a failure of adaptive thinking.
Linear thinking means seeing the world in terms of a straight line of
cause and effect. In a networked world, you must think of cause and effect
as feedback loop. In classical strategy, we call this loop
listen-aim-move-claim. If every situation could be planned, you wouldn't
need this training. Unfortunately, we all
live increasingly on the front lines of
competition where the pace of change allows for less and less
planning.
Whether you realize it or not, the challenges of an
increasingly competitive world are shaping your life. To be successful
over the long term, good planning skills are not enough. You need to know
how to make the skills to understand your competitive position, to advance your position,
and and to deal with unforeseeable situations.
In the science of strategy, we call decision-making in these three areas
position awareness, opportunity development, and situation response.
As the Roman strategist Flavius Vegetius Renatus said, “Warriors
are not born; they are trained.”
What do you want? To get a pay raise? To settle a
dispute? To make a sale? To be successful in your career? To start a
business? To find a spouse? To become better known? To be recognized
for your work? Your success in any of these areas cannot come from
simply planning and working through your plans. Planning alone won't get
them for you because you cannot know where and when your opportunities
will arise.
As you start learning Sun Tzu's classical approach to
developing strategic
reflexes, you begin to understand why your gut instincts are often right. Your hard-won knowledge from
experience that gave you those gut instincts fit into a larger, more comprehensive
picture.
Wouldn't it be nice to have a set of tools to help you see
more opportunities and take more effective actions? Start
learning what you are missing with a
FREE trial of our on-line training.
