Ok, strange title for an entry. Here is an even slightly stranger title for a conference session I attended at Web 2.0 expo.
"How to run a startup like Genghis Kahn."
I had to attend the session, just because of the name.
Even though there wasn't tons of content, there were some very good principles in the session.
One of which was the idea that you should "Put yourself in uncomfortable conditions."
The presenter was basically talking about how the Mongols were better in battle because they regularly subjected themselves to harsher conditions than the people they conquered. He used imagery of a professional football team that trains in a tropical climate, to explain why they always seem to lose the games that are held when the temp is below 70 degrees.
He also brought up a slide about the US army and boot camps. He should have had a much better image for this. Right now 'Band of Brothers' is on TV, it is one of my favorite mini-series. One of the things that I remember throughout the series is that all of the men in 'Easy Company' were better soldiers than the others because of their commanding officer Sobel during boot camp.
He managed to whip them into great physical shape, but furthermore he managed to galvanize the unit together, unfortunately it ended up being completely against him. But later on in the series, one of the original Currahee soldiers remarked that they wouldn't be as good a unit as they were without the tough times they suffered through under Sobel.
This reminds me of the old saying "What does not kill me, makes me stronger." So yeah, whether your trying to start a business on a shoestring budget and no hardware, to whether your training for war, or football, or just living, you should not be worried about going outside your comfort zone, in the end you will be better off.
I believe that because of my time spent during my first job here in Texas I learned to do a very lot, with very little. I remember asking to start up a project and the executive had only this to say "Fine, as long as it doesn't cost anything." So I scrounged around the office for the parts to build the web server for the project.
The presenter also brought up another principle that resonates with me "Don't fight the enemy on their terms." His example was based upon a siege that the Mongols did once against some Hungarian knights. They drove all the serfs into the castle. The knights apparently did the usual thing, stayed in the castle and taunted the Mongols about how they wouldn't be able to get into the castle.
Genghis apparently, decided that it was fine for them to stay in the castle. As a matter of fact, he would help them out with that. He had his army cut down trees from the surrounding area and erect a wall around the castle. Forcing the knights and the serfs to stay in the castle, which likely wasn't stocked for a long-term siege. Apparently, the Mongols would then start catapulting things into the castle, like dead bodies (notably plague victims).
Now, what does this tell you and me? It means, don't just accept the standard way of doing things. You need to be able observe the problem in front of you and come up with an appropriate solution. Sometimes this ends up being the standard way of doing things. However, these days there are many ways to skin the cat.
I'm heading out.
Laterz
