IBM does a lot to keep tied in to how customers feel about the machines they use. We've got to appeal to people's basic needs. As a member of the military reserve for six years and a lifelong student of military history, Mark has aggressively searched for business lessons in military strategy. And when it comes down to it, strategy is what games are about. Here are some business lessons Mark has drawn from military strategy, particularly that of Sun Tzu.
Business is about statecraft.
Business has replaced warfare as the form of how nations compete. If you say customers are important but don't listen to your customers and spend all of your time in meetings, obviously customers aren't important. There's an indirect approach to winning. Direct attacks bring the most resistance, but if you take the path of least resistance, you can shape the enemy. Shock and surprise.