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2.4 Contact Networks

May 18, 2012
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"You need all five types of spies.
No one must discover your methods.
You will then be able to put together a true picture.
This is the commander’s most valuable resource." Sun Tzu's The Art of War 13:2:7-11
Description: 
Five rules regarding the range of contacts needed to create perspective.
Perspective: 

“Networking is making links from people we know to people they know, in an organized way, for a specific purpose, while remaining committed to doing our part, expecting nothing in return.” Donna Fisher

Situation: 

No matter how well connected with think we are, the networks of contacts that we naturally develop in our lives are inherently limited. Natural contact networks are myopic, consisting of people who largely shared the same points of view. This occurs because we tend to keep in contact with people who are like ourselves. Our contacts tend to be the same age, have the same interests and opinions, live in the same areas, and, more and more often, work in the same industry if not company as we do. We cannot develop a broader perspective from talking to people who share the greater part of our perspective.

Opportunity: 

Sun Tzu based his design for information gathering around the five elements of a strategic position. We use the five elements our template for gathering information (1.3 Elemental Analysis). We need information about changing conditions (climate), our competitive arena (ground), those whose decisions affect our position (leader), the processes of the groups with whom we interact (methods), and the motivations guiding the people and groups who affect our position. Different types of people are better positioned to have these types information

Sun Tzu's Rules: 

Note: In Sun Tzu's The Art of War, his term for information sources is traditionally translated into English as "spies," but the Chinese character was originally closer in meaning to the concept "conduits,""channels," or "go-between."

In our book, Nine Formulas for Business Success, we update Sun Tzu's five types of spies to a non-military setting, but keeping their alignment with the five key elements of a position. We describe the five rules for the type of information conduits that we need.

  1. Old pros are people with experience in a specific competitive arena. They know the rules of the ground and the implications of those rules. There is no more important teacher than experience on the ground (2.4.1 Ground Perspective).
  2. Fresh eyes only belong to those who see the changes in climate from a fresh perspective. As people get older, they develop a more fixed perspective and a point of view. We all need to connect our perspective to those who see things from the perspective of the next generation (2.4.2 Climate Perspective).
  3. Insiders are those who know decision-makers whose decisions affect us. If we are a salesperson, these are people who know our customers and how they think. If we are an employee, these are those who know our boss. Only people who are close to those whose decisions affect us can give us insight into their character (2.4.3 Command Perspective).
  4. Methods observers are people who can compare and contrast how we and our rivals operate. These contacts can tell us about the best practices used by our competitors. We must learn and understand competitive practices to understand our position(2.4.4 Methods Perspective).
  5. Missionaries are those who carry our vision to others. This last group shares our sense of value with the world. They have a real interest in your shared mission (2.4.5 Mission Perspective).
Illustration: 

These three types of people are needed in every contact network, whether we are talking about our business or our personal relationships. For our illustration, let us use the example of a person who is opening a small business. If we think that we want to open a new restaurant, what should our contact network look like?

  1. Old pros are people with experience in a specific competitive arena. Before opening a new restaurant, we should definitely be talking to people with a lot of experience not only in running existing restaurants, but opening new ones. However, since this is the area of "ground," we should also be talking to people who know the specific location or area in which we are thinking of opening a restaurant.
  2. Fresh eyes only belong to those who see the changes in climate from a fresh perspective. No matter what type of restaurant, we are opening, we want people to see it as new and exciting. This means we need to get in contact with young people, especially those who eat the kind of food we are thinking about offering to see what they find new and interesting in a restaurant. 
  3. Insiders are those who know decision-makers whose decisions affect us. In the restaurant, this category would include the food critics for the local paper, for popular blogs, and others who are in contact with your potential customers, perhaps even other businesses in the area you are working.
  4. Methods observers are people who can compare and contrast how we and our rivals operate. These people are those who know restaurant operations, and it would include people who supply the restaurant business with equipment.  
  5. Missionaries are those who carry our vision to others. These people can be from any of the above categories, but who buy into the mission of our particular vision for a restaurant.