Turning chaos into opportunity

Sun Tzu has never been faulted; he is supposed to have told 2,500 years ago “in the midst of chaos there is also opportunity”. True enough, but how do we do that in our business strategy when we have chaos all around. Here we go: 

Let me first define what chaos is:  “It is an event or series of events that are un-expected by you happening right around you in an un-planned manner which you come to realize only after you are suddenly caught up in the circumstances that thrust you to the forefront to deal with the eventuality for which you have no ready answers.” Corona pandemic is a classic example in our time.

When chaos strikes, the first thing you lose is the sense of tranquillity that prevailed so far and you hurtle down at high speed without sense of direction & purpose. Put on temporary limbo, you are awed by the severity and suddenness such that you can only live this precise moment expecting another event that could be much worse than you have seen so far. Hence the twin characteristics of chaos are being unexpected and your being unprepared.

Now let me turn to master strategist Sun Tzu. In his monumental book “Art of War” Chapter V Sun Tzu says” Amid the turmoil and tumult of battle, there may be seeming disorder and yet no real disorder at all; amid confusion and chaos, your array may be without head or tail, yet it will be proof against defeat.”

What Sun Tzu implores us to do is to understand the chaos, separate cause & effect, focus on quick answers to seemingly apparent issues, manage the firefighting and invest time & money to screen the long term aspects and find out answers to those aspects and in doing so put your house in order to find any and every opportunity to come over the crisis and thence to transform crisis into a profitable opportunity.

In business strategy these are handled by two teams acting in concert with each other but the primary responsibility being different from one another. 

Team one is tasked with doing the fire-fighting. On one hand there is free fall of the demand for your products. On the other hand you are temporarily barred marshalling men & resources to operate the production line to cater to even the limited demand. This team works on the front channel making every effort to calm down nerves of employees, customers and suppliers. Put it other way team one focuses on the controlling part of the situation as it is.

Team two researches the long term issues because every chaos has the potential to bring in changes in terms of running any business. Firstly it has to prepare the employees for the future trajectory and train them how to handle future demand & supply dynamics.

Secondly it would also have the unenviable task of persuading customers to change their buying patterns. For example, transform customers from visiting stalls to on-line shipping. This move is calibrated to sustain current levels of purchasing intact. Suppliers need to be assured continuous purchase orders and also informed of modifications necessary for the types of product, firm is planning to float in the near future.

As the saying goes there is always an opportunity in adversity, business strategy of a firm should be ready to grab one presented in the latest pandemic, as counselled by Master Sun Tzu! 

 

Cheers!

 

Muthu Ashraff Rajulu

Business Strategist

Mobile: + 94 777 265677

E-mail:   cosmicgems@gmail.com

Blog:   Business Strategist