HOW TO RUN YOUR BUSINESS LIKE THE MONGOL EMPIRE: 10 LESSONS ON CREATING, RUNNING AND PREVENTING THE DESCENT OF YOUR BUSINESS INTO OBLIVION.
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| Mongol Warrior after war |
The Roman Church branded them as the angels of the
apocalypse. They were depicted as brutal, flesh eating and greedy. This was the
dark ages, and folklore was more accepted than facts. It is noted that some of
the worst wartime atrocities with estimates of up-to 80 million dead were
committed as the Mongol conquered the known world in the 13th and 14th
century.
At their zenith they ruled an area extending from the Sea of
Japan to the East, to Central Europe to the West, from Siberia in the north to
the Indian subcontinent in the south. It is still considered the largest
contiguous land empire in history; six times the size of Alexander the Great’s Macedonian
Empire.
The Mongol empire ruled for a strikingly short time span,
but their mark is evident in today society, from trade, to culture, art, to
military strategy their contribution is extensive.
The Mongol empire has more to offer today’s businesses than
was previously assumed. Whether you are running a start up, bootstrapping and
fighting to come by some financial injection, a stable organization about to
transition into your best years, or are declining into oblivion there are
lessons you can learn from this empire.
1.
Your
strength lies in less
The Mongols are a very hardy people. For centuries before
the empire became, their story was the same, they were nomadic, moving from
place to place, depending on their animals, and at the mercy of treacherous
weather patterns. Heavy snow, ice and droughts were common, harsh winters of
-30°C
constantly decimated their livestock. Due to constant travel necessitated by
the need to survive they only possessed the bare essentials and lived in
tents.
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| Steve Jobs and Wozniak - 1977 |
Their situation was further exasperated by the trade
disputes they had with their neighbors the Jin and Xia Dynasty to the South
East, who were wealthy empires that refused to trade with the Mongols for
desperately needed goods
Respect the early days
of your business. Learn to survive and flourish based on your adversity; you
might not be forced naturally to do this, but critical lessons are learnt at
this period. Learn to ask questions like why your business exists and what
value your business ultimately brings to society.
There is a reason why
the Silicon Valley mantra of “fail fast and try again” exists. And it stands
far apart from bringing value to society.
There is a reason why Vmware makes profit while Twitter, Groupon and Zynga barely do so in comparison to their
valuation.
We live in an age where bootstrapping is lauded and sensationalized.
An ecosystem has blossomed around the world of venture capitalists who are
willing to fund even half witted ideas from a large global pool of
technologists who have received sufficient dozes of inspiration from the success
stories of companies like airbnb and Whatsup.
The fanatical “me too” romantic notion of this aspiration can be misconstrued
and the wisdom of the difficult early days lost as many people commit Kamikaze
like acts, in aiming to emulate the success of the few. It’s only after wasting
first and second round of financing in propping up a dead entity that it
becomes apparent that some companies were really never meant to be. An
interesting piece on this here
Remember
that 3 out of 4 businesses that start in Silicon Valley fail within the first
30 months. It is no wonder that there is
even a Failcon
conference that focuses on failures.
2.
Study
industry strengths and weakness, design for success
The Mongols fully studied the power and weaknesses of their
neighbors and realized that aristocracy was their Achilles heel. Far ahead of
anything else most of the surrounding empires at that time were ruled by
aristocrats who wanted to retain their empires at the detriment of the masses,
corruption was a byword in the Chinese empires. The size of armies was based on wealth and
influence and not on order and discipline.
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| Cronyism |
To counter this Genghis Khan, first of all instituted a
principle where meritocracy was king. One rose through the ranks because they
showed exemplary ability in the field, rather than how well one knew or had a blood
relation to the leader. He then set about bringing structure among the ranks.
He did this by having leaders of groups of 10, 100, 1000 and 10,000. The
leaders of these groups were chosen based on ability in the field.
Make sure you have the
right structures in your organization from very early on. Build to disrupt not
to conform. It might be easy in the beginning to hire people who simply buy
into your vision but the earliest you can, get people who merit their position.
Reward results rather than cronyism. Read Economist piece here
3.
Have
grand aspirations and a clear blue strategy
Genghis was a brilliant military commander who from a young
age struggled to revenge his father; once this was achieved revenge was
translated into a passion for conquest. Without his character the Mongol empire
would not have grown beyond its domestic realm. Deep down Genghis wanted to be
termed as a supreme leader, a master of no equal.
Be aware of and use
your talents and abilities. You possess talents that can allow you to achieve
the aspirations that you have for your business. Be relentless and don’t short
change yourself with short-term aspirations of being just a billionaire. Despite
being courted a number of times, to sell their businesses the founders of Facebook and Google understood their vision and had grand aspirations. It is only by sheer resilience
that they stood their ground and didn’t sell off their companies, they are now
some of the wealthiest people in the world. Please have lofty aspirations that
include something more than dollar signs next to your name, it will probably change
the world we live in.
Remember to have a blue ocean strategy that
sets you apart not a red bloodied one. Find clarity of vision first, and then
pursue it with all your energy. Which takes us to the next lesson
4.
Oneness
in vision
Genghis knew that victory was meaningless without
establishing a sense of nationhood so he had to fight and unite all the warring
Mongol tribes under a single structure. He then set about establishing a
formidable army using the national sport the nerge (traditional hunt) as an
exercise to
distill discipline and skill. His aim was to make the troops learn to think as
part of a larger entity. Only showing their individual abilities when they were
required to. It took him close to 4 years to have the army he desired. But by
the end of that period discipline, order and structure was what Genghis army
had.
Invest time to bring
your business into one living, breathing organism, where every person works as
part of the whole team .
It takes time, effort, practice and play
together to get there. Merit and ability should be essential at critical
moments, but teamwork should be supreme, and a culture of thinking as one
should be fundamental.
5.
Create
a formidable enemy
Geghis realized early that to maintain supremacy at home he
had to have success abroad.
Leaving your ‘troops’
without a formidable enemy to conquer is a recipe for descent, conflict and
departure.
Learn to train,
mentor, give direction and then send your people out to achieve the seemingly
impossible.
In the battle with the Chinese empires the Mongolians were
greatly outnumbered, but because they had become one in mind and focus they
overcame their numerous and disorganized enemies.
6.
The
power of one
A Mongol soldier was highly resourceful, he was supposed to
manage 4 horses, a shield, 2 bows, 60 arrows, a lance, cooking pots, a
sharpening tool, a needle and a thread, including his daily ration. He was
supposed to be ready to move for distances of hundreds of miles within minutes
of warning.
Hire the people who
have the DNA of your aspirations, who have in them the ability to do the length
and breath of what you want to achieve. Remember Genghis soldiers were hardy
nomads, who moved around all their lives, with little luxury. What they were
doing was explicably part of their culture and nature. You may not necessarily
find the right people for your organization from the Ivy League schools, but
know what is the underlying DNA you
require to make your business a success.
7.
Respect
and embrace, tolerate and allow for diversity
It is widely known that their foray into warfare outside
their region, the Mongol warriors decimated what they did not understand. But
they were quick to learn, partly due to their visionary leaders, who understood
that the foundation of a great empire lay in the skills that they found in
conquered empires. Due to this, forced migrations were initiated for skilled
people found in the Persian and Chinese empires they conquered. The most valued
people were metal workers. These would later build the ramp and siege works the
Mongol used to attack Westerly Islamic and European strongholds and
fortifications.
Cast your net far and
wide for talent, some of the best people to build your business may actually be
in places unknown and unappreciated doing “insignificant” work.
One of the things that the Mongol Khans knew about was
tolerance and the need to accept diversity for economic and cultural
prosperity. Unlike the Europe of the dark ages which was intolerant and steeped
in mythology and illiteracy. The Mongol empire was literate and religiously
tolerant.
Learn to embrace diversity it is
by inviting and creating a conducive environment for a cross section of people to
interact that ideas flourish and prosperity is realized.
8.
Learn
to change and adapt
The conquest of China was different due to the outlay of the
land, which was either densely forested or covered by paddy fields. And thus
horses, a principal mode of transport for the Mongols could not be used. The
war would take years instead of months. To achieve conquest, Kublai Khan
decided to adopt the Confucian practices, gab and behaviors of the Chinese. He
essentially became Chinese. He then invested heavily in trade, art and science
and included the Chinese in his army.
While it is a sound
lesson to change and adopt, ensure that you are always clear on what benefits
this will accrue and understand the merits and demerits. Not just in the short
term but in the long term. Remember not all change is good, some change can
elevate and some can destroy. Chose wisely and strategically, and not through a
knee jack reaction to what is happening around you. I would go with Warren
Buffett’s sagely approach rather than Raj Rajaratnam quick
and ‘calculated’.
9.
Clarity
of vision through the ranks
The first major defeat that the Mongol army faced was due to
the large Chinese contingent they had in their army in their war with the Japan
Empire. Due to the stratification in army (the Mongols were at the top and the
southern Chinese at the bottom ranks) a majority of the people who went to war
with the Japanese was the southern Chinese who were uninspired and did not
identify with the aspirations of the Khan. Twice they were rebuffed and in the
end 80,000 people died and this signaled the decline of this great empire
Remember even as you
are growing and achieving great success, take time to sell your vision to
the least and to the greatest of your employees.
Remember that merit
should determine progress in your business. No one should feel like they have
stagnated because there is some form of stratification in your organization’s
rank and file.
10.
Do
not do what those you ‘conquered’ did before you
During his best years, Kublai Khan build a Confucian style
city, splendid, bedecked with beauty, rectangular and awe aspiring. In the city
he built cities within cities that essentially isolated the people from the
center of power. He then realized that to populate this great city he had to
attract the aristocracy, he thus set about making it a city of culture, as a
patron of the arts and so began a shadowy dive into an aristocratic lifestyle
that took him away from his constituents and the proper governance of his
empire.
The head stopped knowing what the toe was doing. Poverty ravished
different enclaves in his empire and rebellion brewed.
Stay hungry, stay foolish ,
never perceive you have arrived at the big boys party. Stay humble. That is the
price you have to pay to stay relevant for eons to come.
Finally train others in the wake of your departure, no one
entity lasts forever, but a philosophy can outlast generations.
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