The Power Of Supreme Timing

Sun Tzu says:

“When the strike of a hawk breaks the body of its prey, it is because of timing.”

Gerald A. Michaelson goes on to further elaborate in The Art of War for Managers:

“The energy is similar to a fully drawn crossbow, the timing, the release of the trigger. Amid turmoil and tumult of battle, there may be seeming disorder and yet no real disorder in one’s own troops. In the midst of confusion and chaos, your troops appear to be milling about in circles, yet it is proof against defeat.”

Is this counterintuitive? Does perceived chaos in battles, systems and procedures underlie order? In our very dualistic way of measuring business, chaos is opposite from order, period. However, can planned chaos, planned defeat be a scheme for strategic timing? Of course it can! One loses battles to win the war, and in a fiercely competitive environment it may be best to ‘concede’ defeat and appear fragmented or disinterested while developing the next big product or service for a strategic launch.

A fine example of strategic timing while appearing slightly aimless is Beyonce’s secret launch of the self-titled album, Beyoncẻ. Mrs. Carter began album production in 2012 while continuing her tour, without one single word to the public and music industry of what was to come next. She appeared to “take some time to live [her] life…but don’t get it twisted!” On December 13th, 2013 Beyoncẻ launched her album digitally via iTunes…and the rest is history! The product itself was worth the ambush – her style is raw, and the content delved deep into explicit issues of feminism, female sexuality, the dark side of relationships and in general the female condition. It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, earning Beyoncé her fifth consecutive number-one album in the United States. The hawk broke the body of its prey.

I am completely in awe of kairos. Supreme timing is not only powerful, but essential.
To have supreme timing and execution, a leader and the team needs to have:

#1 Accurate Market Research

Know the both the demographic and the competitor way before hand. This takes grassroots groundwork bordering on healthy espionage.

#2 Develop The Idea

Will the market respond? Will the competitor be fooled? Good. Then it is time to gather the best development and production team.

#3 Maintain Internal Unity

The worst possible opponent of timing is a Rat. Production leaks can really lead to full, unplanned chaos. This may be the hardest factor to control.

#4 Plan What Chaos Must Appear Like

Beyoncẻ appeared to concentrate mainly on motherhood and family while touring comprised former music. While there is no doubt that Mrs. Carter did focus on her family, she used the opportunity to secretly create a landslide album.

1. The chaos can appear as market follow or market death.
2. During planned chaos, it is vitally important to keep reading the market.

#5 Be Ready To Build Momentum

Once launched, the team must then appear fully knowledgeable, externally unified and ready to build momentum. Beyoncẻ was available solely through iTunes with record downloads, until December 20, 2013, when the album became available to other distributors. The post-launch momentum created was incredible!

Chaos can be order, if planned and executed to be so. Think of this: we want to completely remodel the kitchen as a surprise anniversary present. What ensues next is quietly creating the new look, secretly sending the significant other on a trip for three weeks, getting a construction team together, having the house look like a hurricane blew through it, eating out for a bit, until the final product is finished and all are surprised and happy!

It’s the same with creating and launching any product or service using kairos. The power of supreme timing.

 

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