The Rapid Response Institute

Tag: Alexander the Great

  • Trading: The Art of the Bridge

    Trading: The Art of the Bridge

    “For the only way in which a durable peace can be created is by world-wide restoration of economic activity and international trade.”  – James Forrestal

    A recent article reviewed games that might be akin to the international trading process, chess, poker and bridge.  That author argues that so much of our rhetoric is militaristic.  We are going to “target” and, “fighting” for you, “outmaneuvering,” and so on sends the message that somehow, we are in a battle?

    If we are in a battle, who wins and what is the prize?  Typically, a military victory results in the destruction of the foe(s).  This pundit is not sure this is a good global model.  The approach has been tried many times in history, the Greek Alexander the Great, the Roman Empire, various European colonization, parties from Word War I and World War II, the Cold War, etc.  The result is always the same–a continuation of tensions leading to the next and more violent conflict.  If the goal is to limit the global population, we seem to be getting pretty good at it.

    All of these classic games have a winner or at least a stalemate.  So, in this context, how do we define Winner?

    Win-Win

    A more satisfactory global engagement can lead to the world that the first US Secretary of Defense sought.

    “Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions.  It has applications in many fields of social science, and is used extensively in economics, logic, systems science and computer science.  Initially, game theory addressed two-person zero-sum games, in which a participant’s gains or losses are exactly balanced by the losses and gains of the other participant.  In the 1950s, it was extended to the study of non zero-sum games, and was eventually applied to a wide range of behavioral relations.  It is now an umbrella term for the science of rational  decision making in humans, animals, and computers.”

    In the 1990s, this author used game theory to assess international business negotiations, Cross-cultural negotiations between Japanese and American businessmen: A systems analysis (exploratory study).  One of the influences for that study was the early 1980s book, Getting to Yes – Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In.  In their book, Roger Fisher and William Ury set out Four Principles of Effective Negotiation, summarized as follows.

    • Separate the People from the Problem
    • Focus on Interests not Positions
    • Invent Options for Mutual Gain
    • Insist on Using Objective Criteria upon which to Base Agreement

    A common theme among these points it the de-escalation of personal animosity that might exist/develop.  By focusing on the common or mutual goal(s), the win-win outcome is possible.

    All Can Win

    Winning is ingrained in our human psychic. Survival of the fittest has served our evolutionary development process well.  However, collaboration is not mutually exclusive with winning.  Humans have banded together for the common good since the beginning.  It is possible for both or multiple parties to a ‘deal’ to feel that their best interests are served.  Isn’t this the basis of a successful marriage?

    The quote “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” by the legendary NFL coach, Vince Lombardi is not as singular as it first appears.  It has additional dimensions, “Resonates with a competitive spirit and the desire to be the best, it is crucial to recognize that life is not solely about winning.  This interpretation aligns with a broader perspective on success, one that focuses on personal growth, resilience, and the lessons gained along the way.”

    Classic games and military jargon are useful tools for today’ so-called business road warriors.  They stand the test of time because we all can relate to conflict.  Even after hostilities cease, countries and societies must be rebuilt in a useful way.  After World War II, both Germany and Japan were rebuilt and became the positive global influences they are today.

    We addressed this recovery process in a LinkedIn post, Trump’s Marshall Plan in February 2025.  Out of the depths of despair a new and better world emerged.  This writer believes we can still help the defeated and even crushed Bridge to a Long-Term Win in the Lombardi spirit.

    How are you helping assure your organization and its ecosystem participants are Winning?

    Pre order our new book, Now Available

    Navigating the Data Minefields:

    Management’s Guide to Better Decision-Making

    We are living in an era of data and software exponential growth.  A substantive flood hitting us every day.  Geek heaven!  But what if information technology is not your cup of tea and you may even have your kids help with your smart devices?  This may not be a problem at home; however, what if your job depends on Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

    Preorder May 23, 2025

    Ordering Information

    We are also pleased to advise our loyal readers that CRC Press has accepted our proposal for this forthcoming book, Nonlinear Big Data and AI-Enabled Problem-Solving: Transforming From A Spreadsheet Society.  Publication 2026.  Stay tuned for more details.

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    Please note, RRI does not endorse or advocate the links to any third-party materials herein.  They are provided for education and entertainment only.

    See our Economic Value Proposition Matrix® (EVPM) for additional information and a free version to build your own EVPM.

    The author’s credentials in this field are available on his LinkedIn page.  Moreover, Dr. Shemwell is the coauthor of the 2023 book, “Smart Manufacturing: Integrating Transformational Technologies for Competitiveness and Sustainability.”  His focus is on Operational Technologies.

    We are also pleased to announce our forthcoming book to be released by CRC Press in June 2025, Navigating the Data Minefields: Management’s Guide to Better Decision-Making.  This is a book for the non-IT executive who is faced with making major technology decisions as firms acquire advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI).

    “People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.” (Martin Luther King speech at Cornell College, 1962).  For more information on Cross Cultural Engagement, check out our Cross-Cultural Serious Game.  You can contact this author as well.

    For more details regarding climate change models, check out Bjorn Lomborg and his book, False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet.

    Regarding the economics of Climate Change, check out our blog, Crippling Green.

    For those start-up firms addressing energy (including renewables) challenges, the author can put you in touch with Global Energy Mentors which provide no-cost mentoring services from energy experts.  If interested, check it out and give me a shout.

  • Running Across an Open Field: Strategy for Disruptive Technology?

    Running Across an Open Field: Strategy for Disruptive Technology?

    Several weeks ago, as an amateur history buff, I was watching a documentary about World War I.  During one segment the commentator discussed the apparent fact that if soldiers refused to charge out of their trenches across an open field into the teeth of waiting machine guns they would be shot.

    The brutality of such a command by (so-called) leadership is appalling.  It may have been one thing for Alexander the Great’s armies to engage in open battles with sharp pointed objects as weapons.

    It is quite another for General Pickett’s infantry at Gettysburg to charge cannons and 50+ years later to repeatedly try the same tactic (by both sides) at horrific costs.  Generals always fight the last war, so the saying goes.

    This blog is not about some of history’s follies, it is about learning so as not to repeat the mistakes of others.  These lessons apply to readers’ daily business world as well.

    When New Technology is Deployed

    New disruptive technology can tear the societal fabric.  Some old jobs and companies disappear, and new ones thrive.  This process has been repeated since antiquity.

    Our culture is having this dialogue today regarding digitalization and its suite of technological driven change, i.e., Blockchain, AI, etc.  Principal issues that must be addressed include Human Factors Engineering (HFE).

    “HFE places the human operator at the center of the complex operating environment.  HFE recognizes that this individual or set of individuals is the puppet master and is responsible for the entire show.”  In other words how do we interact with the new technological reality.

    Reliable and valid HFE is the key to successful digitalization initiatives.  It will be the vital to whatever is next as well.

    Tyranny of the Minority

    From political science, “For centuries, theorists have worried about the potential of unrestrained democracy to lead to a tyranny of the majority, in which majority groups ride roughshod over the rights of minorities.  What we often see today is instead a kind of tyranny of the minority: a system in which a particularly extreme and motivated fraction of the populace can wield outsized power in the face of a majority which is either too indifferent or too scared to oppose it,” (italics added).

    In most organizations, there are fewer leaders than those who fabricate a ‘work product.’  The responsibility of leadership is to set the vision, mission and goal as well as enabling the organization with the tools and support necessary to reach targeted stakeholder value.

    But what if this minority group is the slowest to come to grips with disruptive forces?  In the face of newness, they may ‘keep doing what they have always been doing.”  In such an environment, the organization will likely not reap the same reward as in the past.

    Does too indifferent or too scared describe your organization’s ecosystem workforce?  One suspects It would be good to know.

    Fast Fail

    In our last blog we discussed the rapid assessment of technology and when to drop it if it does not appear to be working out.  Perhaps, we should treat managerial processes the same way.  After a horrific and visible failure in leadership, conceivably one preserves best by looking for alternative?

    If charging head long across an open field leads to disaster, why keep doing it?  While a counter argument might be that we had no tools to defeat those equipped with the new technology, to this writer, that logic is suspect.

    Flanking an enemy’s line or using guerrilla tactics, et. al. are as old as human confrontation.  Unconventional warfare has a long record of documented success.

    The business lexicon is loaded with military terminology.  We often speak of business as if it is warfare, when of course it is not.  There are lessons to be learned about human and organizational behavior, however.

    Decades ago, the concept of Guerrilla Marketing was the rage.  With the advent of social media, it has advanced, and the methodology is available to all.  Huge budgets and massive media campaigns are no longer necessary.

    Head-to-Head the biggest ‘guy’ usually wins.  So, if you’re not him/her, DON’T DO IT!!  However, the small mammals may displace slow moving dinosaurs.

    Agile is not an IT term.  It should be the state of mind of leaders at all levels.  To charge across the open business landscape into technology designed to destroy your organization remains folly.

    How Are You Leading the Charge into the Future?

    For More Information

    Please note, RRI does not endorse or advocate the links to other materials.  They are provided for education and entertainment only.

    See this 3:15 minute clip for more information on living in a World War I trench.  Pathetic way for leaders to force those under their command to live.

    For more information on Cross Cultural Engagement, check out our Cross Cultural Serious Game

    You can contact the author as well.

    End Notes

      https://consult2050.com/job-disruption-due-to-digitalization/

      https://therrinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/HRM-in-Process-Industries-Sustained-by-Human-Factors.pdf

      Ibid.

      https://areomagazine.com/2019/04/02/the-tyranny-of-the-minority-and-how-to-prevent-it/

      https://therrinstitute.com/lessons-from-the-seventies/

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_marketing