STRATEGY
BEN WALKER
The public’s needs should define your strategy
Society holds the seeds of success Ben Walker is editor-at-large of Dialogue
The Hua brothers are fond of citing ancient understandable societal nervousness about Chinese wisdom. “In Chinese,” they write its power and reach. Yet we would doubtless in their newly translated book Super Signs, miss it, were it gone – which suggests that it “we say that you should care more about does benefit society, and that, as a business, the sowing than the harvest.” This most it has a handle on humanity’s needs and dynamic of duos are household names thus a ticket to almost irrepressible success. in East Asia, where their insights into Not everyone can be the size of Google, branding, R&D and consumer strategy are nor should they strive to be, yet Hua & revered. Core to their ethos on corporate Hua hit on something important when strategy is that organizations should seek to they urge companies to think first of their do good for society, and let other concerns benefit to society. Nail that, they say, and follow. Results should be what they suggest strategy itself becomes secondary. “Policy they are – a follow, not a lead. Endless is extremely important to a company,” battles to achieve results wear down a the brothers write. “Many problems are company, even when they are successful. poorly handled by companies because “Your goal should be to they have no policy and leave others in the dust thus no principles when after just one step,” they dealing with a situation. Those companies write. Citing the military When deciding whether that care more classic Wuzi, they add: to launch a product about the sowing than the or whether to keep a “Those who win five harvest will succeed battles find disaster… business, you shouldn’t those who win one be looking at sales become emperors.” metrics. Look at your The Hua way suggests that companies policy and decide if the action will affect find a niche that creates advantage for your social responsibility.” Those that care society and select that as their one key more about the sowing than the harvest battle, having already won it. Doing good will succeed; those who do the reverse for society can certainly include producing will fail. Societal benefit is different to products and services that achieve a classic corporate social responsibility, the Huas societal benefit – be it environmental, social stress, however noble and valuable some or economic. Yet it need not be so lofty or such schemes might be. They highlight high-minded. The Hua brothers’ definition the woes of a Chinese dairy company that of societal benefit is broad and simple: if seemingly forgot that its societal benefit that product or service disappeared, would was the supply of clean, good milk for the society think it had lost something? Chinese public – and wound up embroiled “Compare Apple with Nokia,” they in a tainted milk food-safety scandal. write. “One could argue that losing Nokia The Hua way is compelling. How many wouldn’t be much. Losing Apple would of the great companies that have fallen on be really losing something.” Their second hard times might have enjoyed a better test speaks to a hierarchy of loss: “Without future had they stopped to consider their Apple, we might be okay with a Samsung. societal benefit while things were still But without Google, we wouldn’t have going well? Defining that benefit, applying just lost a search engine – the whole of it and testing your every act against it will humanity’s progress would slow down.” bring the outcomes you want, eventually. This thinking is challenging. Until “Management is like life,” the brothers relatively recently, Google’s own motto suggest. “It can take a long time for karma was ‘Don’t be evil’, which reflects to get you.” Q3 2019 Dialogue
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