It really doesn’t matter how big your company is right now. Small organizations up to extremely large corporations are now very focused on devising new strategies to grow or even sustain the business. Market conditions demand doing so.

Many organizations are trying to create brand-new strategies and tactics to cope. Many of them are trying to figure out how to put these newly created ideas into action.

You don’t have to do anything new.

Companies are generally focused on one final objective and that is to grow financially.

Armies too have one final objective and typically that’s to win the battle at hand. In an Army every single person is focused totally on that single object. All of us would do well to think like an army commander from time to.

Top to bottom, company managers need to to devise a strategic plan. Typically, this plan is composed of objectives, vision, goals, and new ideas. The company’s day-to-day tactical plan and actions should be relying on this overall strategic plan. Of course, there is no such thing as a perfect plan and emergencies (large or small) will arise. These short-term requirements must be addressed, but the company’s overall strategy can still be the guide as to how.

Sun Tzu’s Art of War states, “The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one’s deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions faced in the field.” In war strategy, every single move may affect its team, therefore, the commander and his people must be willing to comply with only one strategy and one leader. All its troops are bound to adhere to the commander; no one shall defy the rules. Once life is eliminated by the war, it can never be replaced. Business is seldom that serious, but the lesson is clear nonetheless.

War strategy defines when to attack, at what and where point to do the exploit, who are the members of the team and who will man the team. Unlike in a company, where losing rarely ends the “business” itself; the credibility of the managers and future success is at stake. In war, losing ends life itself.

It has previously stated, everyone in the Army knows the end objective. And, everyone in the Army will fight very hard to assure that outcome. The why of that should be obvious when you reread the paragraph above.

If you can’t create this sense of “oneness”, your job will be all that more difficult. The army commander may have a simpler job some say. This is because they have very clearly defined rules and other guidelines. Plus, everyone has a certain sense of urgency because of the seriousness of the outcome. You need to to create something similar.

While war strategy needs focus and only the chief can command and handle the team, they do not need a huddle to agree on the 2nd choice since every move is crucial. You certainly can utilize your entire senior management team to help in this endeavor and should.

Your business needs to be profitable in order to sustain itself. The lesson you may have internalized here is that you do have a genuine single objective much like an army in battle.