Fighters and Stragglers

Frequently, Entrepreneurs see goals without accessing resources to accomplish goals. Some resources are people. People are important to the functioning of any business. Employees require food, shelter, companionship, safety, purpose, supplies and resources to perform tasks meaningfully, cheerfully and effectively. Conveying information meaningfully in front of a crowd is a skill. Mastering the craftsmanship to produce a product is a skill.

Everyone enjoy their work. If work is too tedious or impossible; they will not apply for the job or quit. Employees want money to buy things they want. Even when handling personal business, does money compensate time? If wanting to spend time with family all day; I could arrange to do that now. If I want to have a retirement fund; I should go to work.

There are two major ideals of effective leadership sited in previous articles. They are Niccolo Machiavelli "the Art of War" and Sun Tzu "Art of War." Discussing both Authors in separate articles, it is worthwhile to read the books. I briefly discuss the topic of leadership styles in "Tactical Business Modes" and "Cool Stuff and People."

Niccolo Machiavelli was a Civil Leader in Italy. He rarely saw battle. His basic understanding of war came from war stories. He also found methods to budget several ongoing battles with neighboring cities that eventually subdued them. Machiavelli died poor. Sun Tzu is the name of a famous General who campaigned against several Warlords successfully. The book appears to be written by someone who researched successful war campaigns and revered Sun Tzu.

Machiavelli writes about ploys to maintain resources with Generals and People in Power by dispersing resources to Soldiers. Food and supplies were scarce. Plans involve keeping extra treasure, food and supplies in the General's tent. The General needs an inventory of all supplies in order to lead Soldiers effectively. It is also a guise so Soldiers are unaware of how well or poorly they are doing. Machiavelli also promotes the idea of randomly selecting a Soldier who runs to the front lines quickly with early dismissal and being honored as a Hero. This motivates Soldiers to fight without pay.

These are manipulative methods of managing resources. They work on a certain level; however, there is a functional reality of keeping Troops at a mediocre level because of zealous maintenance. Minimum amounts of food and weapons leaves Soldiers at a deficit.

Tzu idealizes battle as a mission of desperation to compel people in to defending themselves. It is important to divide supplies between Soldiers evenly to provide an incentive to fight. Though business is not a war; war is an acceptable example for making strategies in business. Frequently the mentality of business is bringing people together in a common purpose of survival against completing companies.

In Sun Tzu's army there is incentive to hunt for food and leathers. There is incentive to fight the Enemy. There is also incentive to plunder and steal from the dead. It would be a good idea to take supplies from others, so they would not be used against them later.

This also creates a uncivil brutality of war. Though successful in battle, the people with more methods of survival won, there is a certain amount of bloodshed that is a concern for Regular Working-Class People who live in cities.

Eventually wars were resolved and people went back to normal life. However, even in civilization everyone is developing methods to gain resources to live. Most agree maintaining survival first is important. After survival is possible then it is time to work on thriving by being able to by all the gadgets and accessories to make life easier.

On the other side there is the issue of those who fight and collect better than others. It would be easy to allow everyone to hunt and collect as they feel necessary. However, what if someone is better at taking supplies away from other people? What if they do so well all the Best Employees retire? What if some Soldiers are left with nothing because they are unable to scavenge as well?

Both Fighters and Stragglers might leave the army even if they must fight or let their entire society die. There is always a time for war. Someone else can do it. The better Fighters might go home and train a militia or more men before entering the army. Do they train them to harass the other Soldiers or plunder better? In either incident, previous Stragglers are making plans about what to do about the larger Soldiers and there is a defensive camp around the city.

The Militia could fight the war? Without offense to keep enemies from families, buildings and other methods of survival; society could die.

Stragglers try to do their best, yet dismal or having to run away from battle has a long lasting effect on people. It makes people approach the world with a sense of not being capable. They recover. They could work part-time until finding a more prominent use of time.

Methods supporting only the strongest survive make a system; wherein, conquering one target is easier. Once the target is gone the war is over. I do not want to be gone or bankrupt. Both methods by Machiavelli and Tzu promotes an idea of a loose surrounding of bodies with one main target. I theorize ongoing waves of Superior Soldiers is the best method. Even if both sides employ the same tactics they are more likely to agree to arbitration before ultimate destruction of either society.

In combat, this would mean Soldiers plunder and hunt to gain necessary items for battle. Excess weapons, furs and food go into a community box. This is near the General's tent and the General disperses food and weapons so every Soldier is free to hunt and healthy enough to fight. In addition, more successful Fighters are not weighed down with excessive weaponry and furs. It might be possible to send supplies home at a safer location and further disperse resources so it is impossible for an enemy to identify one target that could end the war. Supplies and Efficient Troops are dispersed throughout a larger area.

I do not recommend manipulating Employee's with trinkets to save a dollar, unless there were definite signs of being able to eventually pay them. Instead, it is important for a Leader to portion resources so everyone has a good supply to improve performance. It is better to have a large pool of adequately trained and healthy Employees to perform any task. It should be almost unnoticeable when someone takes time off, quits or gets laid off.

Division of resources is important. Frequently, there is a desire to invest in Stronger Players; however, not rewarding people for their effort creates a predictable weakness. When everyone feels healthy, safe and efficient there are greater levels of success in defensive and offensive protection of a business.

Related Article
Cool Stuff and People
Cost Effective verses Cheap
Tactical Business Modes