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Why Speed Wins

In the days of the Roman Empire, war and business were synonymous. War was business and business was war. The entire Roman Empire was built on conquest and plunder. Ancient Romans often became wealthy through the spoils of war and later in life would venture into real estate, trade, or politics. In a similar way, The Art of War by Sun Tzu, a brilliant ancient Chinese military strategist, is found in the “business” section of the bookstore instead of the war section. Today, the same principles that apply in warfare also apply in business.

A wise man once said, “Wars are won by legs, not by arms.” In history, smaller armies have been able to wear down massive opponents and take victory over large distances: Attila the Hun was able to wreak havoc on the much larger Roman legions by having a small, fast, elite, and mobile force. Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps were able to beat the British into the submission in World War II with a small elite, mobile force. Lawrence of Arabia deployed similar tactics in the pre-Second-World-War era that evolved into modern-day guerrilla warfare.

There are two commonalities between Attila the Hun, Erwin Rommel, and Lawrence of Arabia. All three men employed the following into their strategies and tactics: 1) speed and 2) distance.

History has proven that speed and distance are just as powerful on the battlefield as they are in the boardroom. Allow me to show you why.

In business, speed wins. Advantageous terms like “first-mover advantage,” “speed of implementation,” and “velocity of money” are all concepts that revolve around speed. In business, if you have a chance to be fast or slow, it’s usually better to be fast.

In business and warfare, distance is just as important as speed. Strategically, we need to have a short position, a medium position, and a long position, whether we are building a company or managing an investment portfolio. In addition, our lasting power, or “ability to win over distances,” whether short, medium, or long, is imperative to success.

Strategies that are effective in short positions may not be effective in medium positions, and medium positions will not offer the same advantages