1、 theimportanceofdistancing oneofthemostimportantprinciplesun-derlyingtheconductofwarhastobepro-activeness.thisisaptlycapturedbythefollowingsayingbysuntzi:”intheconductofwar,onemustnotrelyontheenemysfailuretocome,butononesreadinesstoengagehim;onemustnotrelyontheenemysfailuretoattack,butononesabilityt

2、obuildanin-vincibledefence.inwar,asappropriatelypointedoutbysuntzi,onecannotrelyonthefailureoftheenemytoattackus.instead,onemustbeeverreadytotakeontheenemy.inaddi-tion,thedefencemustbesostrongthattheenemywouldnotevendaretocontemplateanattack.thisproactivenessisthusnoton-lyindefence,butinoffenceaswel

3、l.thisisaprinciplethatiswellunderstoodbyanymilitarycommander.bybeingproactive,heisablenotonlytogaintheinitiative,butwillalsohaveampletimeandopportunitytodealwiththeenemy.ontheotherhand,ifheisplacedonthedefensive,heisunlikelytocomeupwitheffectivestrategies.infact,hewillbeunderseverepressure,resulting

4、intensionandevendisunitywithinhisrank-and-file.whileproactivenessiswellunderstoodinmilitarywarfare,ittendstobeeasilyover-lookedinthecontextofbusiness.moreof-tenthannot,manycompaniestendtoadopta”follower”strategy.tobeginwith,theyhopethatbyfollowing,theycanreducetherisksinvolved.atthesametime,theycanc

5、opythesuccessfulstrategyoftheleaderandavoidhismistakes.thereisnothingwrongwithadoptingafollowerstrategy,providedonechoosestherightleader!thesignificanceoftheabovequotationbysuntziwouldbebetterunderstoodintermsofitsapplications.letmeillustratebyposingaquestion.whenyouarenum-bertwoorthreeinyourlineofb

6、usiness(whetheritisintermsofmarketshare,profitability,qualitystanding,etc.),whatwouldyouliketobe?iamsuremanyreaderswouldhaveverylittleproblemansweringthequestion-weallwanttobenumberone!now,ifyouarenowrankednumberone,whatwouldbeyourgoalorobjective?thisiswhereioftengetveryinterestinganswers.typically,

7、iwouldgetthefollo-winganswersfromexecutivesaroundtheworld:.defendthenumberoneposition.protectthenumberoneposition(whe-therthisisintermsofprofits,marketshareorsomeothercriteria).guardagainstthecompetitors.maintaintheleadershipposition.sustainthenumberoneposition.trytoremainasnumberone.staynumberone.n

8、owifyouhappentoholdoneoftheaboveresponses,letmesaythatyouareonlyhalf-right.bysayinghalf-right,imeanyouarehalfwrong!thisisbecausealltheaboveanswersarepassive,defensiveandreactiveresponses!inactualfact,beingnumberone,youareeffectivelytheleader.asaleader,yourmainroleistolead.un-fortunately,ifyouhaveapa

9、ssive,defensiveandreactivemindset,youarelikelytoendupfollowinginstead.thiseffectivelyvio-latestheprincipleofproactivenessasadvo-catedbysuntzi.whatthenshouldtheappropriateanswerbe?ofcourse,inwar,wecandestroyourenemies.inbusiness,however,wedonotgoaboutdestroyingourcompetitors.thiswouldprojectthecompan

10、yasveryruthlessandwithoutmoralprinciples.however,whilewedonotgoaboutdestroyingourbusinesscompetitors,itdoesnotmeanthattheydonotwishthatweareout-of-business.withoutdoubt,manycompanieswishthattherearefewerandweakercom-petitorsaround.inthisway,theywouldnothavetoworksohardfortheirmarketsharesandprofits!

11、amoreappropriatestancewouldbefortheleadertodistanceitselffromthecom-petitors.notethatthekeyphraseistodis-tancefromonescompetitors,notfromonesownfollowers!bydistancingitselffromtherestofthefield,itwouldbeharderandharderforthecompetitorstocatchup.infact,ifthegapbecomestoobig,thecom-petitorsmayevengive

12、upchasing!moreimportantly,theconceptofdistancingcanbeappliedtoacompanywhichisnotinthenumberoneposition.forexample,ifthecompanyisinthenumbertwoposition,itsgoalwouldbetocatchupandovertaketheleader.however,itisequallyimportantthatitdistancesitselffromtherestofthecompetitors.inthisway,itisassuredoftheru

13、nner-uppositionwhilegoingforthechampion!interestingly,thereareseveralreasonswhyitissoimportanttodistanceoneselffromtherest.letmeillustratethroughthegameofbasketball.whenthescoreisto,to,to,andsoon(thatis,thedifferencebetweenthetwoteamsisonlytwopointsapart),whatwouldyouranswersbetothefollowingquestion

14、s:.whichteamdoyouthinkwillbeundergreaterstress?.whichteamismorewillingtotakerisks?.whichteamwillbeafraidofmakingmistakes?.whichteamislikelytobemoreinnovativeandcreative?thinkoftheanswerscarefully.notsur-prisingly,manyofyouwillsaythattheteamthatisbehindbyonlytwopointsislikelytobemorewillingtotakerisksandtoinno-vate.conversely,theteamthatismargi-nallyaheadismoreafraidtomakemistakes,islesswillingt