While the history of mankind is peppered with wars, every war tends to have an end once it begins. However, there remains a war that has yet to conclude—the religious conflict between Islam and Christianity. The Crusades, which started around the year 1000, could be considered the longest war in history. Stretching over eight campaigns from 1096 to 1291, these wars lasted nearly 200 years. The Crusades were not as benign as their name might suggest.
Popes used them to strengthen papal authority, lords sought to expand their territories for political purposes, and knights and merchants joined the war for honor and wealth. Ultimately, however, the war was a clash between Islam and Christianity, with the ultimate goal of seizing the holy city of Jerusalem.
In this very region, the second shortest war in history, and practically the shortest, took place. In early 1967, Palestinian guerrillas based in Syria attacked Israel. Subsequently, led by Egypt, the armed forces of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq assembled at Israel’s border.
On June 5, 1967, Israel retaliated. On that morning, the Israeli Air Force, within just three hours of their attack, bombed around 400 Arab planes. Israel focused its intense attack on Egypt, considered the leader among the Arab states. With the outbreak of the war, Israel quickly secured air superiority and advanced through the Sinai Peninsula to the Suez Canal. Israel’s surprise attack nearly destroyed all of Egypt’s aircraft, including 286 planes, crippling their war capability.
After focusing on Egypt, Israel moved its main forces to confront Syria at the Golan Heights. As soon as Israel’s armored divisions arrived, Syria accepted the UN’s ceasefire recommendation, and both Jordan and Iraq agreed to a ceasefire, bringing the war to an end in just six days.
This war was like a textbook demonstration of Sun Tzu’s Art of War in action. It adhered to the principle of quick and decisive action from the “Tactics” chapter of Sun Tzu’s work, coupled with the tactics of concentrated attacks from the “Weak Points and Strong” chapter. Sun Tzu taught, “Expose the enemy’s formations while keeping ours concealed. Concentrate all our efforts in one place while dispersing the enemy forces.” The lessons from Lanchester’s laws discussed earlier also reflect this: avoid direct confrontation with a stronger enemy and instead disperse them and focus on attacking one critical spot.
In the movie “The Attack on the Gas Station,” there is a scene where the character Yu Ho-sung creates a tense atmosphere when facing multiple opponents by declaring, “I always just beat up one guy.” Similarly, when attacking, focusing on one particular weak or critical spot can cause fatal damage to the opponent. When facing the enemy, their loss directly translates into our gain. That’s why scholars emphasize the need for focus and differentiation.
Differentiation means giving up what you are not good at and focusing on what you are good at. Thus, differentiation and concentration are a single strategy. The concept of “select and concentrate” also speaks to differentiating in your area and focusing there. In other words, differentiation and concentration always go together, just as electricity and magnetism are always found together in physics.
Differentiation does not mean simply being different from competitors, but rather involves a series of actions aimed at securing a unique position in some aspect. Business consultant Richard Koch says that you need to find a space where, compared to the best competitors in all possible fields, your productivity ratio is the highest, and you must focus on that space.
Consider that competition exists due to the scarcity of resources. It is a truth that human capabilities are limited, and one cannot sufficiently focus on multiple tasks at once. It’s important to remember that successful people consistently say they focused without distraction.
Strategy is about creating a unique and valuable position. Essentially, strategy is about defining our position. Positioning must be unique and valuable. The essence of a strategy is to occupy a different position from others, and this position must be sustainable and difficult for others to replicate.
How can such a position be secured? Above all, it requires considering what to give up. Differentiation emerges through sacrifice, and strategic competition can be seen as the art of what to give up. Strategizing involves asking what you will give up, deciding what not to do. Only through trade-offs can a differentiated position be created and maintained.
Everyone wants to be good at everything, but competing in all areas could lead to a waste of all resources. We must recognize that our resources and even our thoughts have limits.
Everyone wishes they could succeed without giving anything up. For car companies, it’s not easy to be the top in luxury cars, leisure vehicles, and sports cars. As competition intensifies, someone will focus on one area and create a competitive advantage there. Whether you like it or not, your core competencies are bound to change.
In the realm of corporate competition, it’s easy to think of examples. Volkswagen, which first introduced compact cars to America, successfully dominated 67% of the U.S. import auto market with the Beetle. But as the small car market continued to grow, consumers who could no longer buy the durable and economical Volkswagen turned to Toyota, Honda, and Nissan. Volkswagen’s market share eventually fell to below 4%. This shows that when strategizing, it’s crucial to resist the temptation to do everything.
In our daily lives, too, this applies. We might be interested in many things, but by giving up a few, we could lead a more proactive life.
Stephen Covey defines a proactive person as someone “who focuses their efforts on their circle of influence.” Getting too excited about things we cannot influence, or pretending to care without any real intent or thought, is also a waste of time. By giving up superficial or showy interests, we can use our time more productively and happily.
Ernie Zelinski’s book The Joy of Not Working mentions that 40% of our worries are about things that will never happen, 30% about things that have already happened, 22% about trivial matters, and only 4% about events we can actually influence. Thus, 96% of our worries are unnecessary. By letting go, we can use our thoughts more effectively.
In reality, nobody can be good at everything, and perhaps only our mothers would appreciate such versatility. Being good at everything might seem like it would make you popular, but if it makes others feel redundant, they might start to question their own value.
Being together means there are roles for everyone, and within those roles, there’s even enjoyment to be found.
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