Flipping through the channels the other night I stopped to watch a Jackie Chan movie on TV. As I watched one of the fight sequences I could not help but see many correlations between fighting and operating a small business.
First, my attention was drawn to the speed of his movement, which I equate to a business’s responsiveness. As I contemplated the role speed plays I was reminded that a finger flick to someone’s ear, for example, while it might be quick, lacks the ability to really make a difference in a fight. Speed alone is not the answer.
Then I concentrated on the surface area of the contact, which I equated to a business’s focus. As I kid I remembered watching wrestling on TV in the 60’s and 70’s, where one guy would hit the other with a folded up metal chair. While the action may have looked good for TV, the surface area of the chair on the opponent’s back was pretty spread out and the damage it created was virtually nonexistent. Then I imagined the same action being done with the point of a high heel, and know from basic physics that the small contact area would have punctured the skin and inflicted much greater damage.
Finally, I noticed the role positioning had, which I equated to aligning the business’s resources. In one scene Jackie did a flying kick, and I was reminded of Newtons 3rd law of motion, which says that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The resulting flying kick, while looking cool, really squandered the role of position as it caused both persons to move away from their starting points.
In boxing I remember that starting from a lower crouching position with your legs apart to create a solid base, and then using your leg and back muscles as well as your arms to land an upward punch, was a much more effective way to use all the energy at your disposal and deliver the ultimate knockout punch. In the end, a small business needs to react quickly to an opportunity, focus its energy on a single small area it can impact most, and align all its resource to create enough momentum and energy to deliver the knockout punch.
How can you use the lessons learned from fighting to deliver a knockout product or service?
