“Business in the New Economy is a civilized version of war…” — Mark B Fuller [1]
Business is like warfare, and like modern warfare, you need a strategy. The military theory is divided into strategic, operational, tactical, and political. Most small business does not have the knowledge and resources to develop a plan. They rely on advisors with insights, data, and technology to create a strategic plan.
Another problem is that small business do not think strategically; instead, they spend most of the time at the tactical level. From the small business perspective, they feel that tactically they are at an advantage, but the reality is that they are fighting against an unknown enemy. They are not fighting against any business. They are fighting to win customers.
When Facebook and Google Ad-words doesn’t work, they give up and do nothing. Businesses can no longer spend their way out of problems in the information age.
They must adopt a shadow strategy to win the purse and minds of customers. In the shadow war, winners and losers are decided by their ability to determine truth from lies. The best weapons today don’t fire bullets, they use words!
Companies have to think about the existential threat. We have all forgotten what an existential threat is — it is out of business.
All types of businesses should implement strategies that utilize and harness these new rules. We all need to adopt the long game of the shadow war. We need to understand strategies, tactics used during the Cold War.
Plausible deniability is the critical element of the shadow war. Big businesses use proxies, and they use propaganda, please releases — things that give them plausible deniability. All we have is technology to counter this fog of war. As a small business accountant and observer, and I’m seeing that big business is getting more sneaky, and we need to adapt to their tactics.
Who are your foes?
Coming in Part 2 — The Consumer’s Shadow War
[1] https://www.fastcompany.com/55076/business-war