Punching above your weight.
The phrase has a nice ring to it. Implications in the boxing ring are significant. So too in military and commerce spheres. Napoleon Bonaparte once declared:
“ God is on the side of big armies”.
Not anymore. National army, navy, air, and space forces are contracting in size and volume but intensifying in power and impact. Australia currently has less than 60,000 in uniform.
Special forces and commando groups are increasingly being deployed to achieve specific goals and outcomes. Concentration of skills, material and strategies consistently and continually enjoy success against numerically larger forces. Look no further than the eastern regions of Ukraine.
In Australia public acceptance of the proposal for a fleet of eight nuclear-powered submarines is increasing and broadening. Understanding the logic for such a decision is less developed.
The nuclear propulsion system will enable the submarines to extend their spheres of operation undetected. Therefore, the national Australian Defence Forces’ capacity to retaliate in a meaningful, ‘hurtful’ way will be upgraded. Defence and retaliation are the operative words.
Pardon the pun, Australian businesses need to get on board.
BUSINESS APPLICATIONS
The global nature and networks of business are understandably under review. Supply-chain disruptions have heightened sensitivities about supply security and continuity.
Prussian General and military strategist Karl Von Clausewitz contended that supply-chains should be short, narrow, and malleable. Long transnational distribution networks are exposed, vulnerable, inherently resource-intense, and subject to numerous external forces and influences.
Consistency, continuity, efficiency, effectiveness, and higher rates of productivity are difficult to achieve, and to sustain with large complex supply lines.
Decentralisation is becoming increasingly attractive. Power and energy generation and distribution are a strong focus in commercial circles. The highly politicised governmental bureaucracies are less advanced in their thinking, strategies, and investment policies.
Democratisation of rooftop solar units is supplying centralised power grids. However, they consistently fall short of expectations and are proving to be relatively expensive.
The same characteristics are evident in warehouses, fulfilment centres and inventory hubs at large.
Multiple, dispersed facilities which are close, accessible, and responsive to local clients, customers and outlets are contributing to enhanced presence, appeal and competitive advantage.
Businesses are awakening to the reality that they do not need “saturation” coverage to be competitively advantaged and well placed to service and satisfy the needs, expectations and demands of existing and prospective clients and customers.
A store on every corner is a concept long since lapsed. The inability, sustainability and appeal of pop-up outlets are also waning. Astute deployment of limited resources, employing asymmetric strategies and tactics are recoding improved performance in the short, intermediate, and longer terms.
ASYMMETRIC FUNDAMENTALS
Embracing, deploying, and enjoying the benefits and advantages of asymmetric principles requires disciplined and often different thinking.
Organisation structures are best designed with an emphasis on smaller, multi-dimensional skill sets. Interactions with, and reliance on, group members are close, personal, intense, and ongoing. They foster empathy, understanding, belief and mutual dependence.
Individuals and groups are highly trained, well-equipped, delegated authorities to initiate, act, respond and to be accountable.
Fear is not an overriding presence. Risk tolerance is high. Capacity for independence well developed. Use of stealth, online real-time communications, assertive actions and adroit withdrawals are characteristic of an “asymmetric” practitioner.
It is an early phase, evolving concept. Precedents are few. Guerrilla Warfare from the 1950’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s are rudimentary forerunners.
Asymmetric strategies and tactics are mainstream. Traditional hierarchies are challenged. Successes are recognised, respected, celebrated, and rewarded.
Practitioners are typically lowkey and low-profile.
The innate nature of asymmetry is that there is no traditional balanced status, distribution of force is uneven (possibly unexpected), outputs are variable and therefore, to some considerable extent unpredictable.
Achievements are typically beyond perceptions and recognised abilities, talents, and attributes.
The superior and superordinate measures are founded on belief, enthusiasm, discipline, integration, flexibility, and the ability to ‘hit’ hard, fast and to follow-through.
WORKSHOPPING DISCIPLINES
Free-wheeling, unstructured, creative development sessions, facilitated by a moderator familiar with the concepts, principles and practices establish their own frameworks, parameters, and priorities.
It is difficult to be judgmental in such high-energy settings.
Upsides and downsides are identified, isolated, analysed and introduced to strategy audits. Contingency plans, and the scope to respond, adapt and innovate are essential. This is an artform, well short of assured scientific outcomes.
MANAGING EXPECTATIONS
Asymmetric forces are relevant and potentially beneficial to multiple audiences, stakeholders, if you will – suppliers, distributors, associates, clients (existing and potential), competitors, substitutes and team-members will be impacted.
Discussing, promoting – but not specifying – asymmetry has the capacity to influence thinking, actions, perceptions and preferences. For internal sources it is typically inspirational and motivational. Shades of: “Yes, we can”, a theme that inspired millions, raised funds and contributed to two successful Presidential campaigns by Barak Obama.
Asymmetry is an unfamiliar word, a ‘big’ concept that is not dependent on absolute size which is marshalling the interest and latent potential for some 2.8 million small to medium-sized enterprises through Australia.
Barry Urquhart
Business Strategist
M: 041 983 5555
E: Urquhart@marketingfocus.net.au