Most companies have to recognize that they need a corporate strategy to be successful in the marketplace.
Many business leaders compare market competition to war. And one of the main instruments of war is intelligence. Smart companies use intelligence like the military: they plan where and how to strike. If you’re not willing to be the main “hero” of the Wall Street Journal’s daily business obituaries; you must have a good intelligence program.
A well-developed intelligence program enables a company to create and maintain distinctive advantages over other market participants. The competition strategy also shows how well the company handles uncertainty.
Although business leaders do not believe that business is war, they recognize that preparation allows you to win with a wooden sword.
The comparison “winning with a wooden sword” is taken from Miyamoto Musashi’s life story. He was the great Japanese swordsman and strategist. Born in 1584, he was one of the last great samurai. Most of his contests ended with the death of his opponents. Around 1612, Musashi stopped using steel altogether in favor of wooden swords.
After accepting a challenge, Musashi spent weeks searching for the right tree. Finally, he made a new perfect sword for each engagement. More than thirty years he remained undefeated.
After retirement in 1643, Musashi wrote A Book of Five Rings, which is considered one of the greatest treatises on strategy. This book is required reading in Japanese business schools and remains as relevant to commerce as it was to combat in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Musashi taught his readers to spend their time learning about the competitor.
“If you know how and where the competitor is going to hit, you’ll beat them solid every time, regardless of any technical advantage they may have,” says Musashi. That is the secret of the power of the wooden sword. It didn’t take weeks to find the right tree. A farmer’s rake handle is more than enough.
Musashi learned everything he could about his opponent. Who is he? What strategies does he follow based on clan, school, region, and experience? Through careful study and experimentation, he answered all these questions and identified the weakest points of his opponent.
If the company carefully monitors the market situation and can take advantage of the weak points of competitors, the business can be successful.
As Musashi proved four hundred years ago, with information like that, a wooden sword is a lethal weapon.