Genghis Khan: Strategy 101

“There is no good in anything until it is finished.” - Genghis Khan

I recently read a biography of Genghis Khan called Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford. In addition to being a brilliant account of an incredible and the impact the man and his empire had on the world, it was also packed with some lessons that apply nicely to strategy and even everyday life.

It's no surprise that a man synonymous with the largest contiguous empire in history knew a thing or two about strategy. But the fact that the principles he lived by are as true today as they were 700 years ago still does a number on my old noggin.

So here are 5 big strategy takeaways from Genghis Khan:

Big Idea 1

Be clear about what you want to achieve

“Without the vision of a goal, a man cannot manage his own life, much less the lives of others.” - Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan was very clear about his objectives. Whether it was victory in a particular battle or the aims of his empire building, he was a man secure in his vision.

It seems like a cliché, but all too often it is easy to lose sight of the goal once you get into the weeds of a project. Whether that is bringing the Ottomans under your sphere of influence or gaining market share.

Big Idea 2

Keep your eyes on the real prize

“The Mongols did not find honour in fighting. They found honour in winning. They had one goal in every campaign: total victory.”

In a medieval culture that often celebrated the means over the end, the Mongols were unique in their pragmatism. Rather than venerate symbolic sacrifice or 'glorious death', which were commonplace amongst other military cultures at the time, they made sure to prioritize the methods and strategies that enabled them to achieve their goals. That often meant moves such as practical retreat or avoiding battle altogether.

Big Idea 3

Develop your unique competitive advantage

“Superior weapons in the end did not amount to Mongol success. Weapon technology does not remain secret for long. The Mongol’s success arose from their cohesion and discipline, bred over millennia as nomads working in small groups, and from their steadfast loyalty to their leader.”

It pays to think hard about what your unique advantage is. A lot of the time, we might be seduced into thinking that a particular product or technology is the X factor, but as this quote explains, it's the systems of thinking and management that underpin those products which contribute to longterm success.

I love how this quote illustrates this point for the Mongols, but also how their advantage was built upon thousands of years of culture. It was a built-in operating system that no one else could copy. That is the kind of advantage that cannot be replicated and should therefore be exploited over and over again.

Big Idea 4

Don't just do things the way they've always been done

I know, who hasn't heard this one before?

This has been repeated so much by now that it has become a generic platitude in business and marketing.

But like a lot of hackneyed terms, it's much easier said than done.

I was fascinated to learn that a major factor that set Genghis Khan apart from his contemporaries was his approach to granting favour and reward. Rather than reward family connections, as was Mongol custom at the time, he decided to pursue a meritocratic system of advancement in his army.

Therefore, the generals with the best results on the battlefield would achieve promotion and receive the khan's loyalty. In turn, the empire would benefit from having more strategic and tactical firepower amongst its leadership.

Meanwhile, his brothers, sons, and other relatives, who were expected to profit off of Genghis Khan's rise to power, were no longer automatically granted power by virtue of their kinship.

While this approach might seem incredibly obvious now, it's worth bearing in mind how radical of a shift in thinking this was in the 12th century. Genghis Khan's decision wasn't just bold, it was downright controversial. Whatever context you operate in, it's important to watch out for the things you take for granted that could, and should, be disrupted in order to achieve breakthrough.

Big Idea 5

Optics is everything

“Win the war before the first arrow has been shot.” - Genghis Khan

After he had several campaigns under his belt, Genghis Khan realised that propaganda was a much more effective tool than brute force in the business of military conquest.

On the one hand, he and his generals were able to use soft power to undermine armies much larger than their own. In one episode, the Mongols famously portrayed themselves as 'liberators' to a civilian population when locked in a struggle with the dominant Jurchen army. By speaking the language and winning over the locals, they were able to make life much harder for their enemy and, ultimately, accelerate towards their own victory.

On the other hand, the terrifying power of PR to strike fear in the hearts and minds of his enemies was not lost on a man who manufactured terror. Whenever he could control the published narrative of his bloody conquest, Genghis Khan made sure to inflate the achievements of his armies.

Interestingly, chroniclers in the ancient Muslim world may have also exaggerated the Mongol conquest in order to rouse their own people into putting up a fight!

Whether it's used defensively or offensively, the ability to shape the optics of a situation will always be paramount to achieving strategic objectives. For more on this, check out my summary of Alchemy by Rory Sutherland.

Conclusions

One of the big takeaways from the portrait of Genghis Khan that I had after reading Weatherford's book was just how practical he was. At every step along his journey from nomad boy to Great Khan, his decision-making was ruthlessly pragmatic. Unencumbered by tradition, custom, or other distractions, he was a man who was committed to achieving his goals with the resources he had at his disposal.

For strategists, there's a lot to take from this approach: clarity on objectives, eyes on the real prize, sharpening what makes you competitive, ignoring useless tradition, and shaping the narrative. As useful 700 years ago as they are today.