Think like Alexander the Great

"I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion". Alexander the Great

Imagine that you are a leader of an army of 40,000 Macedonians in 331 BC and you are on your way to fight the Persian Empire's army of more than 100,000 men. You know for sure that the odds of winning the battle are not in your favor. However, all your soldiers believe in your strategic thinking and ability to maneuver in battles. You reach to the edge of the hills where your enemy is waiting for you. What would you do? Do you think they have a more powerful position than you? What is your strategic plan? What rules do you follow to win the game?
Well, Alexander the Great was once in your position leading his army against the Persian army which was led by Darius. Alexander was famous for his hammer and anvil strategy, where the center of the army engages with the enemy while the cavalry on each side moves behind the enemy and pushes them forward.


Alexander knew that the same strategies he had used in past wars were not going to be effective in winning this battle because the enemy's army outnumbered him 3 to 1 and spread horizontally in the battle field to overlap his army. Knowing the Persians can't move without Darius' command and that Darius must have guessed his hammer and anvil plan, Alexander thought about an alternative counter-tactic. He attacked the Persians on the left side, drawing as much of the Persian cavalry as possible to the left side and creating a gap within the enemy line where he could then break through the center in order to kill or capture Darius. When Darius saw his left line crumbling and Alexander advancing toward him, he fled and the Persians retreated. The Persians lost tens of thousands of men in the battle, and the Macedonians lost only a few hundreds.




Alexander wasn't playing by the rules. Instead he was able to understand the advantages of his position and created weakness in the lines of his enemy. He didn't focus on how much power he had but rather on how to position his power strategically in a way that conquered his opponent and allowed him to turn the odds to his favor. Marketing is all about strategic thinking and understanding the market place, along with your competitors' strategies and the market rules. Taking all of these elements into account can allow you to think like Alexander and make your products breakthrough and dominate the market. This can be done not only by taking advantage of your company's strength but also by analyzing your competitor's weaknesses as well as changing the rules of the game in the market.