The-Importance-of-Distancing.docx

The Importance of DistancingOne of the most important principles un-derlying theconduct of war has to be pro-activeness.This is aptly captured by the following saying by Sun Tzi:In the conduct of war, one must not rely on the enemysfailure to come, but on ones readiness to engage him;One must not rely on the enemys failure to attack, but onones ability to build an in-vincible defence.In war, as appropriately pointed out by Sun Tzi, onecannot rely on the failure of the enemy to attack us.Instead, one must be ever ready to take on the enemy. Inaddi-tion, the defence must be so strong that the enemywould not even dare to contemplate an attack. Thisproactiveness is thus not on-ly in defence, but in offenceas well. This is a principle that is well understood by anymilitary commander. By being proactive, he is able not onlyto gain the initiative, but will also have ample time andopportunity to deal with the enemy. On the other hand, ifhe is placed on the defensive, he is unlikely to come upwith effective strategies. In fact, he will be under severepressure, resulting in tension and even disunity within hisrank-and-file.While proactiveness is well understood in militarywarfare, it tends to be easily over-looked in the context ofbusiness. More of-ten than not, many companies tend toadopt a follower strategy. To begin with, they hope thatby following, they can reduce the risks involved. At thesame time, they can copy the successful strategy of theleader and avoid his mistakes. There is nothing wrong withadopting a follower strategy, provided one chooses the rightleader!The significance of the above quotation by Sun Tzi wouldbe better understood in terms of its applications. Let meillustrate by posing a question. When you are num-ber twoor three in your line of business (whether it is in terms ofmarket share, profitability, quality standing, etc.), whatwould you like to be? I am sure many readers would havevery little problem answering the question - we all want tobe number one!Now, if you are now ranked number one, what would be yourgoal or objective? This is where I often get veryinteresting answers. Typically, I would get the follo-winganswers from executives around the world:1. Defend the number one position.2. Protect the number one position (whe-ther this is interms of profits, market share or some other criteria).3. Guard against the competitors.4. Maintain the leadership position.5. Sustain the number one position.6. Try to remain as number one.7. Stay number one.Now if you happen to hold one of the above responses, letme say that you are only half-right. By saying half-right,I mean you are half wrong! This is because all the aboveanswers are passive, defensive and reactive responses! Inactual fact, being number one, you are effectively theleader. As a leader, your main role is to lead.Un-fortunately, if you have a passive, defensive andreactive mindset, you are likely to end up followinginstead. This effectively vio-lates the principle ofproactiveness as advo-cated by Sun Tzi.What then should the appropriate answer be? Of course, inwar, we can destroy our enemies. In business, however, wedo not go about destroying our competitors. This wouldproject the company as very ruthless and without moralprinciples. However, while we do not go about destroyingour business competitors, it does not mean that they do notwish that we are out-of-business. Without doubt, manycompanies wish that there are fewer and weaker com-petitorsaround. In this way, they would not have to work so hardfor their market shares and profits!A more appropriate stance would be for the leader todistance itself from the com-petitors. Note that the keyphrase is to dis-tance from ones competitors, not fromones own followers! By distancing itself from the rest ofthe field, it would be harder and harder for the competitorsto catch up. In fact, if the gap becomes too big, thecom-petitors may even give up chasing! More importantly,the concept of distancing can be applied to a company whichis not in the number one position. For example, if thecompany is in the number two position, its goal would be tocatch up and overtake the leader. However, it is equallyimportant that it distances itself from the rest of thecompetitors. In this way, it is assured of the runner-upposition while going for the champion!Interestingly, there are several reasons why it is soimportant to distance oneself from the rest. Let meillustrate through the game of basketball. When the scoreis 62 to 60, 64 to 62, 66 to 64, and so on (that is, thedifference between the two teams is only two points apart),what would your answers be to the following questions:1. Which team do you think will be under greater stress?2. Which team is more willing to take risks?3. Which team will be afraid of making mistakes?4. Which team is likely to be more innovative andcreative?Think of the answers carefully. Not sur-prisingly, manyof you will say that the team that is behind by only twopoints is likely to be more willing to take risks and toinno-vate. Conversely, the team that is margi-nally aheadis more afraid to make mistakes, is less willing to takerisks, and is under more stress and tension! The logic isvery simple! The guy behind is too close for comfort! As aresult, the team that is lea-ding is forced to take a moreconservative posture to defend its position.This is where the irony lies. To be alea-der, there is aneed to continue to innovate and be creative. This impliesthe necessity to take risks and the ability to toleratemis-takes. Only then can the people in the orga-nisation bewilling to experiment, develop new ideas and concepts. Allthese can flou-rish much better if the organisation hasenough capital and buffer to do so. This is wheredistancing becomes so crucial. It allows the leadingcompany to have suffi-cient breathing space to develop newideas and innovations, and accomplish them with minimaltension and stress. It is such a very simple, yet powerfulconcept that only the enlightened companies are able topractise it.(The writer is Professor of Business Policy; Dean, Facultyof Business Administration; Director, Graduate School ofBusiness National University of Singapore & a resourcepanellist of SPHs Chinese Newspapers.)拉开距离的重要性打仗最重要的一条原则，是先发制人，防患于未然。孙子以下的话，便道出了个中道理：“故用兵之法，无恃其不来，恃吾有以待也；无恃其不攻，恃吾有所不可攻也。”孙子的话没错。两军开战时，不可以把希望放在敌人不来攻击，而应该做好充分准备，给敌人迎头痛击。另外，也要有坚实的防卫，坚实到敌人根本就不敢动进攻的主意。很多军事将领深深懂得这原则。先发制人，不但占了主动权，也让自己有足够时间和机会应付敌人。反之采取退守姿态就不太可能想出有效战略。事实上部下会因此感受到强大压力，以致搞到关系紧张，甚至团结不起来。先发制人的道理，在战场上最清楚不过，但商界人士经常都把它忽略掉。最常看到的是有许多公司走“跟风”路线。跟在别人后面，最大的希望当然是减少冒险，同时可以照搬先行者的成功策略，避免重蹈覆辙。跟风路线是没有错，当然你得要跟对人！上述的孙子语录，在实际运用时就更能深刻体会了。让我以一个提问来作说明。假设在你的业务领域里，你是老二或老三，你打算怎么做？我想对很多的读者来说，答案根本不难我们都要成为“天字第一号”！现在，如果你已经是排行榜上的第一名，你又会设下什么目标呢？答案往往很有趣。以下是世界各个角落的执行人员，提供给我的一些典型答案：1.守住第一的位置；2.保护第一的位置；3.看守好竞争对手；4.维持领导地位；5.在第一位坚持下去；6.尽力留在第一的位置；7.保持第一。以上的任何一条如果就是你的答案，那让我告诉你，你只对了一半。说你对一半，意思就是你有另一半错了！因为所列出的这些答案，都是被动、守势、见招拆招式的回应。实际上，既然排名第一，你就彻彻底底是个领导者。而作为领导者，你的主要任务就是领导！不幸的是，如你的思路已定型了，满脑的被动、守势、见招拆招，很可能最后你也会加入一窝蜂的行列中。而这和孙子主张的先发制人，就有所抵触。那什么才是合适的答案？如果是战争，我们当然可以歼灭敌人，但做生意并不必四处去“制竞争对手于死命”。这会让公司落得个无情无义、没有道德原则的名声。无须四处去制竞争对手于死命，不等于说敌人就不想把我们赶出场。毫无疑问的，很多公司希望对手越少越好，也越弱越好，这样，就不必整天为市场占有率和盈利而拼死拼活！作为领导者，一个较正确的姿态是在自己和对手之间，拉开距离。请注意，关键字眼是和“对手”，而不是跟随者拉开距离！当你和“赛场上所有的人”有了距离，对手想迎头赶上，便会越来越困难。事实上，差距越拉越大，还可能逼得他们放弃追赶！还有一点更重要，不是名列前茅的公司，也用得着拉开距离这个概念。例如公司如果位居第二，目标当然是超越第一，但摆脱其他竞争者的纠缠也同样重要。这样，你就站稳了坐亚望冠的优势！一定要拉开和其他人的距离，背后的原因很多。让我用篮球比赛来说明。两队的比分如果是62-60、64-62、66-64，你会怎样回答我以下的提问呢？1.哪一队承受的压力较大？2.哪一队更愿意冒险？3.哪一队更怕犯错？4.哪一队比较可能打出新意，有创造力？好好琢磨一下才回答。选择应该是明显的，很多人都会说，只落后两分的球队更有冒险和创新的意愿。相反的，稍微领先的球队一定更怕犯错，更不愿冒险，也更感觉到紧张和压力！逻辑再简单不过。在后面追赶的家伙“逼得太紧”了！而被追赶的不想让位，于是变得更保守。这就是矛盾所在了。身为领先者，就得不断创新和表现出创意。因此免不了要冒险，也必须能忍受犯错。只有这样，公司成员才愿意尝试，以及愿意开发新点子和概念。而所有这些工作要做得更出色，公司须有足够的“本钱”和“缓冲”才行。就在这里，拉开距离变得事关重大。它让领先的公司有更大的呼吸空档，去开发新的意念和创造，并且在最不紧张，最少压力的情况下把任务完成。这是个简单却强而有力的概念，但也只有开窍的公司才有能力加以贯彻。