Art of War

In the middle of the night yesterday, my spouse woke me with an update that she could hear footsteps and that she suspected we had an intruder at home.

Being the only male member (my four years old is in India now enjoying his vacations) at our home I had to pull up all my courage and decided to inspect my home. As I was taking careful tip toe steps towards the dark corridor I was recollecting those action strokes from kung fu panda film – just in case should I encounter someone I can pass a kick or two.

I was convinced by the sheer panicky tone of my spouse on the presence of intruder and hence deep inside I was also calculating my exit plans – should I give up or should I take a strategic position and wait in darkness or should I engage the intruder and call for help or should I go aggressive and switch on lights and announce to the intruder that it’s time to show up and that the game’s over?

The episode made me recall reading a few lines of the art of war way back in my earlier days at work and hence could not recall any moves. However one statement lies very close to my heart and I believe it is so relevant in the corporate world: ‘All warfare is based on deception. If your enemy is superior, evade him. If angry, irritate him. If equally matched, fight and if not: split and re-evaluate’

After 15 minute of thorough search, I realized it was a false alarm and that my spouse was affected by an overdose of reality shows on the television.

Though I would love to express my views on these reality shows as a marketer I support all these channels because they are trying to get more ratings to their programmes, aiming at more viewership and since the advertisers are guaranteed more viewers and hence the returns on investment measures well.