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Here
is a bit of history I call "The Zulu Story". I find it very
interesting to examine, and then compare it to the business battles we are
involved in and observe on a daily basis.
In 1838, at Blood River, a wagon column of 464 Boer farmers were surrounded and attacked by a force estimated at over 10,000 Zulus. The farmers were equipped with muzzle-loading flintlock muskets, the Zulus with spears. The assault was launched at dawn and lasted about a half a day. At its conclusion, some 3,000 Zulus had been killed, against 3 farmers wounded.
About 40 years later, 1,700 soldiers of the British Army at Isandlwana armed with breech-loading single-shot .45 caliber Martinis were "hammered into the ground" by another force of about 10,000 Zulus. Even though the soldiers had more rapidly firing weapons, and expended over 40,000 rounds of ammunition, they were totally wiped out after killing about 1,500 Zulu warriors.
Even though the British soldiers had every technical advantage, more people, better weapons, and plenty of ammunition, why were these results so entirely different?
One reason explained by the article is that the farmers were pioneers who grew up knowing how to make every shot count, while the British soldiers were conscripts "pulled off the streets of Liverpool and London", but I think it goes deeper than that, as this type of "against all odds" story is repeated many times throughout history, particularly in the Vietnam era with Special Forces, Green Beret, Seal, and LRRP stories where small groups of 6 to 8 men would start huge battles with squads, platoons, and even battalions of North Vietnamese and still live to tell about it.
Here are some pertinent facts as I see them, broken down into the typical "business" categories.
1838
- Boer Farmers
about 1878 - British Soldiers
People 464 1700
Equipment
Flintlocks
Breech Loaders
Resources
lead balls, bags of powder
40,000+ cartridges
Incentive
Infinite! Perform or die!
Infinite! Perform or die!
Obviously,
the preliminary judgment says that odds should have greatly favored the British
soldiers.
*
The British soldiers had far
more people to do the job, nearly 4 times.
*
They had far better, more modern equipment. Breechloaders, even though single
shot, are much faster to reload than muzzle loading flintlocks.
* The British soldiers obviously had much more resources. They fired enough ammunition to kill each Zulu warrior 4 times!
*
They obviously had the same, ultimate incentives, so why did the farmers
accomplish their mission and the British soldiers fail?
Even
with better weapons, greater resources, huge incentives, and more people,
victory is not guaranteed.
What is more important than any of those items? Leadership, Commitment, and Belief Systems are huge factors. Also, we believe as part of that, instead of Command-and-Control Systems like the British Army had, Leadership’s main purpose is to develop Clarity in Responsibility, Process, and Organization, and then fully support the individual soldier’s ability to do his job properly, and effectively, assuring victory.
Some of these key indicators can be exposed in business by using a personality assessment tool, along with many other analysis tools that Teamwork Solutions, Inc can bring to your company.
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