News and thoughts from the people at EllisLab.

The Gentle Art… of Business

Posted by Rick Ellis on April 06, 2008

I’ve been studying Brazilian Jujitsu for the past two years.  If you’re not familiar with Jujitsu, it’s the foundational ground fighting component of UFC.  The easiest way to understand Jujitsu, although it’s an oversimplification, is to think of it as wrestling with chokes and joint locks.

Jujitsu means “the gentle art”.  It’s based on the premise of using your opponent’s energy against them.  If someone pushes, you pull.  If they pull, you push.  It’s about redirecting your attacker’s energy, diffusing it, so you can control them and ultimately win—and in a way that doesn’t harm them or you.

Since I’ve taken up Jujitsu I’ve come to look at size and strength differently.  Jujitsu isn’t about force on force, it’s about using leverage, and angles, and technique.  It’s about brains, not brawn.  You never match strength against strength, you exploit your opponent’s weakness with your strength.  Your legs, for example, against their weaker arms. 

I mention this because I see many parallels to Jujitsu in business.  We often attempt to battle our business competitors head on, but that’s a bad strategy, especially if you’re smaller.  It’s much more effective to find where your competitor is weak, or where they do not want to go, and focus your energy there.  A pinpoint application of focussed energy often beats a larger, more dispersed force, just as a wrist lock can bring a 200 pound stud to his knees. 

In Jujitsu, body positioning is the most important element.  The goal is to achieve positional dominance.  Without it, you’ll never get a submission.  Similarly, in business you must find where you can be dominant, even if it’s a small niche market.  Get strong where your competitors are weak.  Don’t try to beat them at their game, find your own game, a better game.

Timing is critical in Jujitsu too.  Every technique has a start, a middle, and an end.  If you start the technique at the wrong time, or if you try to finish a technique too early, forget it, it won’t work.  Being sensitive to the proper timing is key.  The same applies to business.  Remember the axiom that it’s better to be first then best.  Don’t wait, move quickly when you see an opportunity.  The first move is the most important one, as all subsequent ones rely on it.

It is said that Jujitsu is a game of inches, meaning that a tiny shift in body position or angle can have an immense effect on leverage.  A small shift in business strategy can create an entirely different outcome as well.  Analyze your market, know your competition, and study your customers in order to find the holes, the gaps, the opportunities.  Become a black belt in your particular market.

It’s human nature to fear the bigger, stronger person.  But often, those big muscles require lots of fuel, they tire quickly, and have limited range of motion.  In Jujitsu you need isometric strength, muscular endurance, mobility, and a high level of conditioning, not a “beach body”.  Similarly, keep your business agile, lean, and fluid so you can take advantage of opportunities, and be willing to work harder and more relentlessly once you seize them.  Build the right kind of strength and conditioning.

The biggest difference between someone new to Jujitsu and an experienced player is their economy of motion.  A black belt moves very deliberately, efficiently, and calmly, with no wasted motion or energy, while a white belt expends enormous energy in all directions at once.  A beginner doesn’t know whether to push or pull, so they do both, burning themselves out.  In business, model yourself after the experienced Jujitsu player.  Be calm, assertive, and move deliberately toward your goals.  Don’t fight obstacles, go around them.  Don’t panic when something goes wrong, see it as a new opportunity.  Don’t fear your competitors, keep moving toward your objective.