I was inspired to take on this new exercise—drawing parallels with corporate and sales strategies—after reading Captain Brault’s excellent article (he’s Captain in the French Foreign Legion) on Machiavelli’s Art of War. The book itself is substantial, and because the details matter greatly in these accounts, I decided to focus on selected parts.
Context
Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527), a political theorist, war strategist, and historian from the Renaissance era, is best known for his works dealing with morality, scruples, and politics, rather than The Art of War.
This work is written in a dialog form (an imaginary conversation) involving Fabrizio Colonna (Fab.), who has just returned from a mission and possesses extensive knowledge of warfare, and other participants (Zanobi Buondelmonti, Battista della Palla, and Luigi Alamanni).
With introductions out of the way, let’s look at the major lessons from the character Fabrizio Colonna in Book Six.
Lessons from Book Six
This book deals primarily—and in detail—with the military encampment (its structure, pathways, and internal organization), as well as how it should be positioned from an external perspective.
Fab. insists on the following point:
“The Romans always wanted to keep the same shape of their camp; all other considerations were secondary to that.”
The parallel with an organization’s internal structure is obvious. According to him, while this structure must remain consistent, they must also seek out a healthy location where they wouldn’t run the risk of being besieged by the enemy.
From this, we learn the importance of carefully choosing your “ground” = “your market segment.” It’s also a reminder to avoid investing the company’s resources in segments where it risks getting bogged down, thus opening the door for enemies to attack us at the most opportune moment.
Possible “dangerous” market segments could include:
- Segments with moderate or questionable growth,
- Segments with a very low technical entry barrier, opening the door to a ferocious price war that ends up benefiting only the market itself, or
- Segments where competitors make us believe they’re making heavy investments when in fact they’re not (a classic “deception” strategy),
- …and many other such scenarios.
Fab. is not a fan of altering the camp’s structure to adapt to the terrain; rather, he prefers terrains that adapt to the camp. In other words, choose a market segment where the company’s strengths and know-how can be fully leveraged.
Fab.: “To avoid the risk of being besieged, you must consider where your friends and enemies lie, and in which areas, to gauge what you have to fear. A general must therefore be intimately familiar with every position in a territory and must surround himself with people equally well informed.”
Once again, we see the need to know your territory in the greatest detail, as mentioned in my previous article. Fab. advises us to thoroughly understand our threats (external factors) and to keep an eye on the positions of both our competitors and our allies (partners, distributors).
Fab.: “I would place all or at least the majority of the soldiers to the east, and the others to the west; the front of the camp would be to the east, the rear to the west, and the flanks to the north and south.”
Leadership, sales teams, and marketing are on the front line, out in the field, constantly communicating with the market to detect the slightest change and ensure needs are identified and met. The flanks will be held by our allies (strategic partners, strategic suppliers). In sales strategy terms, this could mean concentrating our best sales teams and resources on key opportunities (the “business development scouts” will play a critical role in qualifying prospects). Allies in a sales strategy might be distribution channels or sales partnerships that help expand our geographic reach or introduce us to new market segments.
Conclusion
By exploring Machiavelli’s teachings in The Art of War, we’ve uncovered striking parallels with modern business and sales strategies. The importance of maintaining a stable organizational structure that exploits all our strengths, choosing one’s market segment wisely, and knowing both allies and enemies are invaluable lessons we can still apply today. With these principles in mind, companies can better prepare themselves to navigate competitive environments.
I’ll wrap up this article with a quote:
“…The Romans punished by death anyone who neglected his guard or abandoned the post assigned to him in battle…”
(Okay, calm down, no need to grab a letter opener and jump on your salespeople!) 😁Instead, make sure that the positions are filled by people whose training and knowledge are (1) complete, (2) properly assimilated, and (3) up to date.