Is the Dark side stronger in business?

“No, but quicker, easier and more seductive it is,” is how Yoda might reply. Yet is it truly so in the world of business today?

I loved the Star Wars movies. As a child, I watched ‘A New Hope’ more than 10 times. I remember pretending to be a Jedi master, trying to move objects with my mind and secretly wishing I’d get a lightsaber as a New Year’s present. Yet little did I pay attention to the hidden wisdom in it. Until a few months ago. That’s when a friend of mine gave me some business advice:

“To win in business you have to be evil,” he said. “Your empathy will get you nowhere. Look at the success Steve is having at Acme Corp.”

It got me thinking. What if he’s right? Steve was a mutual friend of ours. I’d been warned that he might stab me in the back if he got the opportunity. Nonetheless, everyone wanted to be like Steve because he was running this huge IT company which now employs more than 300 people.

You probably know people like Steve. They make us think that, in a world of endless striving for power, being aggressive is the only path to success. There is no place for fair play in business. For me to be successful, others must suffer.

I envied Steve. I worked harder but I was less successful. That was probably because I always obeyed the rules. Was that why my progress was slow? Maybe it was time for me to adopt the Dark Side’s strategy too? But then I remembered Yoda’s warning. “Once you start down this path, forever it will dominate your destiny.”

So I had a dilemma:

Shall I adopt a Dark Side strategy or shall I find ways to fight it?

And so, just this one time, I decided to listen to the Sith. “If one is to understand the great mystery one must study all its aspects, not just the dogmatic narrow view of the Jedi.”

So I invite you now to take a wider view of the Force together.

What is the Dark Side in business?

Before we explore the Dark side in business, here is a short introduction by Master Yoda.

"A Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger. Fear. Aggression. The dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow. Quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice."

Star Wars is fictional but I will use its metaphors to illustrate my definition of the Dark Side in business.

1) The Dark Side’s primary goal is power. The “quest for power” is the main motivation. Losing its power is the Dark Side’s greatest fear. Acquiring and keeping money, status, increasing share prices, revenue, growing the company – that’s all that matters.

2) Dark’s strength comes from anger and aggression. “The anger gives you focus, makes you stronger,” says Darth Sidious. Dark Side companies seek aggressive sales and business executives. They are thought to deliver results and more profits for the stakeholders.

3) Dark does not care of who is harmed in the process of obtaining power and rewards.

4) Dark doesn’t favour partnerships. “If you are not with me, you are my enemy,” says Anakin-just-turned-Vader. It is a type of “us vs. them” mentality. Other companies are seen as competitors that must be crushed, not collaborated with.

5) Dark has centralized leadership. A result of the Sith’s “rule of two”: a master to embody the power of the Dark Side of the Force and an apprentice to crave it. In Dark Side businesses authority is often controlled by a few people rather than delegated widely.

6) Dark’s leadership style is fear. Demonstration of power is their way. “Don’t fail me again, admiral,” says Darth Vader, choking to death most of the Death Star’s middle management. Mistakes are punished severely, failure is not an option. Thus the Dark Side’s followers put in effort but fear the consequences of their actions.

7) Dark’s primary weapon is deceit. Lies and creating mistrust are the Dark way. Advantage over others is obtained through false promises, exaggerating results and hiding failures.

The Dark Side in business is the endless striving for power at all costs and centralized leadership governed by fear and deceit

The Light Side is the opposite. Always doing what is right. Care for others. A trusting leadership style. Consensus decision-making. Honesty and integrity. Shared vision.

These definitions are extreme, of course. Most businesses fall somewhere along the spectrum of gray shades between pure Dark and pure Light. I consider a Dark Side company to be one that’s closer to the Dark end of the spectrum.

What are the Dark Side’s strengths and weaknesses?

When I was a kid, I couldn’t help but think that the Dark Side was stronger. I wanted to be Jedi, but I recognized that the fierce lightning of Count Dooku and the Emperor is no match for Anakin or Luke. Even Yoda barely resists them.

In business, a Dark Side company easily wins deals by bribing decision-makers. It gains financial leverage by not keeping its word to partners. It tries to pay employees as little as possible and tries to get them to work as much as possible.

Yet it all comes at a cost.

 The Dark Side achieves quick results at the expense of losing the trust of others

What’s more, in an information society, word of failed promises travels fast. Social media allows us to spread our experiences instantly. A mistreated customer is 10 times more likely to share than one who is happy.

Because of this, I have always favored the Light. I know that raw strength is not Light’s power. Yet I believe that the philosophy behind it gives greater long-term results.

What are Light’s long-term results?

As you remember, the destruction of the Death Star requires a team effort – it’s Luke who fires the shot, but it takes a squadron of pilots sacrificing themselves to help him make it. It wouldn’t be possible without the voice of Obi-Wan guiding the young Jedi about how to let go of his dependency on machines and use the Force. And certainly not without Han Solo, who foregoes his promise to Jabba the Hut and risks his life to help Luke.

The same principles hold true in business. Always doing the right thing even if it causes you personal loss – this makes people trust you. Paying for your mistakes – this shows integrity. Sacrificing short-term gains – that builds long-term friendships. And those friends join your fight when you need them the most.

The Light’s strengths lie in fighting together

Nevertheless, some people who follow the Dark Side seem to have lots of “friends” and partners. The reason for this - people are drawn to power by fear or by the promise of big rewards. Yet when the balance of power changes, those people are quick to leave.

The Light Side is different. Trust, shared vision and care for others builds relationships more slowly, but makes them stronger. Even in times of hardship, people stick together and help each other.

At Abilitics, we have always followed the principles of the Light Side. This has helped us build a company culture of trust and respect. A culture which I believe everyone would like to be part of.

Well … not everyone. Three years ago, we interviewed a software developer, Jonathan. A bright fellow, communicative and very talented. We liked him and made an offer, which he accepted. To our surprise, five days before his start date he changed his mind. He preferred Steve’s company and gave us no explanation.

 Two months ago, I spoke with him at a tech conference. “I was promised the position of team leader within a year, but it never happened,” he said. “Instead of rewarding work, I was given this boring project. It’s all stress and I feel like I am not learning anything new. At least the salary is good.”

After we parted ways, I kept on wondering. Why couldn’t he see that those were false promises?

Why does the Dark Side so often seduce good people?

To answer this question, let’s see how Palpatine seduces Anakin and turns him into Vader.

In a nutshell, it’s a three-step process:

1) Find a person’s fears of desires. Palpatine uses Anakin’s fear of losing Padme while Steve’s HRs discovered Jonathan’s desire to advance rapidly in his career.

2) Undermining beliefs. “Good is a point of view. The Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way, as well as their quest for greater power.” Steve’s HRs have probably convinced Jonathan that big companies have more career opportunities.

3) Making false promises. “Together we can cheat death. Join me and together we will have the power to save Padme.” Palpatine makes that promise knowing that it is unlikely to happen. Jonathan has probably been promised a fast-track career - “Only with us can you become team leader within a year.” Yet often the HRs who make such promises don’t care whether they are fulfilled.

Once under the influence of the Dark Side, it is difficult to turn back. Jonathan has chosen a bad company but now doesn’t have the courage to make a change. I know many businesses who have chosen the wrong vendor due to false promises and now can’t change their decision due to the significant investments already made.

False promises of big rewards can turn a person to the Dark Side

It is clear that everyone needs to check which claims are real. What if Anakin had checked Palpatine’s references? Where was the proof that he can cheat death? What if Jonathan had spoken to people who’ve left Steve’s company? Maybe the two of them would have chosen differently.

Or wouldn’t?

Jonathan knows that both companies would promise him anything to get him onboard. What most likely happened is that he spoke to a few of his friends. Some may have said that Steve’s company had a questionable reputation; others that it was the ideal place for a fast-track career. They most probably hadn’t heard of us because we were not a well-known company back then.

Jonathan checked our websites. But they looked identical, with bold statements about integrity, excellence and care for others. He couldn’t tell the difference between one and the other.

Yet at the end of the day, with no clear winner on the references check, with contradicting views on Steve’s company and nothing about Abilitics, what do you think he believed?

That’s right — neither of us. Yet, with all things being equal, he chose the company offering the bigger rewards. Because from his point of view, we were no different to Steve’s company.

Here was our biggest mistake as a Light Side company. We shouldn’t have played the Dark Side’s game. We never could have promised bigger rewards than a Dark Side company. By trying to do so, we simply appeared to be a weaker Dark Side company.

Instead, we should have adopted a Light Side strategy.

The Light Side strategy is not claiming we have strong values, but telling a story about decisions we took in a difficult situation. It is not claiming we will provide fast career progress, but telling a story about one of our team members building up their skills. It is not claiming we are a good team, but telling the story of how we achieved our latest project.

Stories which:

1) Reveal your personality. Others don’t want to know the false image that marketing wants to create. They want to know the real person behind your company. What you believe in, what decisions you take and how you treat others.

2)  Inspire trust. They are hard to fake. The Dark Side may have many stories but they simply “don’t feel right”.

3) Are easily remembered. People don’t remember facts and figures, nor bold claims. What sticks in their mind is a story they care about. Then it gets shared and spreads like a virus.

What if Jonathan had heard a brief version of our story at his interview with us? What if he then read it online on our website? What if he heard it from a friend?

I don’t know if he would have chosen his career path differently – after all, everyone believes whichever story they want to be part of. But at least Jonathan would have made his choice after getting to know our true identity and beliefs.

This is what we have learned we need to do differently. I believe you too need to start sharing your true stories. Because

If we don’t share our true authentic stories, people will believe our enemies’ promises

You also need to share them online. In a blog post shared in LinkedIn or Medium. As a video shared in YouTube. Or as a PowerPoint presentation shared in Slidle (this is a software product we at Abilitics are developing to help people tell stories visually).

Sharing stories doesn’t guarantee that people will trust you though. In Star Wars, the Jedi had a strong code of conduct and authentic Jedi stories. Yet Anakin still turned into Vader, not because he didn’t know them, but because he loses trust in those Jedi stories. “From my point of view, the Jedi are evil” says Anakin after seeing Jedi break their code of conduct on multiple occasions.

Once trust is broken, the Dark Side easily seduces him with the bold but unreal promise of “join me and together we can cheat death”.This shows us that telling your stories is not sufficient. Keeping promises and being true to your story is even more important.

So if you are to choose the Light Side as your business strategy, you need to be prepared to fulfil your commitments even when decisions are tough and even when they may cause you harm.

“To be Jedi is to face the truth and choose! Give off light, or darkness, Padawan. Be a candle, or the night, Padawan: but choose!"

This is Yoda’s covenant. You have to choose – value quick results at any cost or value long-term partnerships and trustworthy relationships. And be careful that what you are selecting is not the Dark Side path in disguise.

If you take the Light path, you need to accept that success will be harder. It takes longer to attain and may require lots of effort. Yet in times of hardship you have friends to rely on. You will receive help when least expected. Customers return for more business and employees are loyal.

Yet you need to share your authentic story. Others need to know your beliefs, successes and failures. Only then, will they trust you and support you on your way.

As more and more companies share their true stories and keep the promises they’ve made, I believe we will see a change in the world of business.

We will be able to recognize easily whether a company’s leadership follows a Dark Side strategy or walks the Light Side path

Being a Dark side lord, Steve will probably continue to seek power without caring who is going to get hurt in the process. He will continue to make false promises and control his company with fear and deceit. This will lead to quick results, but with no authentic stories to share.

At the same time, we will get to know the Light side leaders who build their businesses while keeping great relationships with their employees, partners and customers. We will then be able to recognize who is making false big claims and who can deliver on their promises.

Yet it all starts with an authentic story. Your story. What is it? We’d love to hear it and to help you spread it…

All illustrations done by Marina Shideroff and our great team at Fram Creative Solutions, a design and marketing company part of the Abilitics Group