Coupling Johari Window with Sun Tzu Art of War
The adaptation of Sun Tzu strategy for war to business has received great attention.
The guiding principles of winning wars to business included many lessons that Krause (1996) presented a summary of Sun Tzu's principles for business success. Namely, these are?learn to fight, show the way, do it right, know the facts, expect the worst, seize the day, burn the bridges, do it better, pull together, and keep them guessing. .
Many questions come to my mind such as:
-????????? How applicable all Tzu principles to our fast-changing world?
-????????? Are all the principles relevant to day in the same degree like before?
-????????? What are the areas that need our utmost attention and how relevant they are to the Tzu principles/guidelines?
One area that I find of huge importance is knowledge is power. And where best to find what we know other than Johari window?
This window allows you to find what you and others know about you (open or public area).
What you know and others do not know about you (hidden area)
What others know about you and you do not know (blind spot area) and,
What you do not know and others do not know also (unknown area).
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Extend the same analysis to business or war.
Imagine the competitors know about you what you do not know about your business. How vulnerable you shall be in this case is beyond limit.
Same if your enemy knows about you what you do not know and defeat becomes possible.
Managerial Styles and Vulnerability
Imagine a business led by a very controlling and demanding management. The management does not care to get feedback/ideas/suggestions from employees.
The employees feel they are closed from the outside world and ‘foreigners’ to their coworkers.
Team spirit is lost. Creative ideas are drying.
Gradually this business shall know lesser about the outside world. However, competing businesses know well how this business is managed and how innovation became stagnant. The moral of the employees was falling down and it was easy then to attract the good ones.
Certainly, the management was blind to the ill-effect of its management style and?? the weakening it is causing to the business.
Sooner than later the business no more exists.
The management style is a determinant factor in increasing the business blind spot and isolating the business from the outside world so the others know about the weaknesses of the business that the management does not know.
The blind spot and hidden areas become wider the more autocratic the management is giving way to competitors to phase the business out.
Retired
1 个月ARTICLE : From ValueProp re Johari Window for Business Decisions https://www.valueprop.com/blog/the-johari-window-uncovering-the-blind-spots-in-business
Retired
1 个月I agree with how ValueProp view the Johari WIndow as it relates to business, which is that every business needs to know its blindspot. At the personal awareness level, the importance for me is the UNKNOWN quadrant. This effects our leadership potential, and these factors are controllable by us. It is futile trying to control what is not and never will be in our control. The weakness in most business environments is the attitude of command and control. It is an outdated business practice that lives very large in most organizations. This does not mean that the body of an organization is nothing but command and control. Within an organization exists pockets where intelligence lives - and here we hear the adage that people do not leave companies, they leave managers. Poor leadership is getting one's organization into a war, just as is at the nation state level. Sun Tzu makes this point crystal clear that the best strategy is not get into the war in the first place. Unfortunately we are not Gods of absolute purity and virtue, and we get ourselves into these states, which is what Sun Tzu then addresses. Having made that mistake of creating a war, it suggests ways of handling the resulting battle. Stay chill, listen to Sun Tzu.
Servant Leadership Enthusiast | Coaching Titans with Strategy, Smarts, and a Side of Wizardry ?? Harmony-Driven Changemaker: Coaching Conscious Leaders to Rock the World with Purpose! ??
1 个月I had to look up Johari Window, so I could get on the same page. Tsu, Tsu, Tsudio... Oh, https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=IlKT2nrd7BM&feature=gws_kp_track came to mind. I think the whole notion of war over anything is archaic, unnecessary and certainly doesn't belong in any kind of true planetary civilization's ability to get along.
Career Reinvention and Development Strategist, Employment Author, Interview Prep Coach
1 个月In performing some research, I discovered one of the most important things Sun Tzu did was pay spies to work for him. In his book, Chapter 13, titled “The Use of Spies, he discusses using them - believing spies were essential for military operations & leaders should spare no expense compensating them. In short, human observation of enemy activities was an effective way to gather intelligence. The same is true in business – we must keep our eye on the competition. In my retail years, I regularly sent workers to check out the competition, gave them money to purchase a new popular item of a competitor. Were they having an unannounced sale, for ex. I also sent a family member in to visit a competitor to gather info. I had someone return a purchase to determine what a competitor's refund policy was and if they stuck to it. Not sure if this is done today, but it helped me succeed. Sun Tzu’s beliefs – “Know thyself & know thy enemy, as well as those of your competitors, plus ‘being adaptable to changing circumstances, is crucial for both war & business. One can’t develop effective business strategies if they aren't aware of their own strengths & weaknesses as well as those of the competition. Fascinating post, Ali Anani. ?
HR Professional, Management Consultancy /Advisory Sevices /Former Sr.Executive Director (HR) DLF Ltd
1 个月A brilliant integration of the 2 concepts Ali Anani You are right in today’s world we are moving towards more transparency and opening of the blind spot and unknown for ourselves and others