In 15th-century Japan, the ninjas clashed with the warlords, the Samurai, in a civil war that lasted a full century.
Today, the new Ninjas are small businessmen who can draw on Asian culture to fight the warlords of the modern world. Analysis.
This analysis is taken from a masterclass held on 9 March 2023 at the Boucan Canot hotel in La Réunion. Riaz Mall* invited some of its teams, a selection of Réunionese entrepreneurs and the Journal des Archipels.
As a preamble, two overriding questions: “Why do Asians thrive in times of uncertainty? and “Who are the warlords of our era of hyper-financialisation of the economy?
In today’s world, times of uncertainty are summed up by the acronym VUCA (for Volatily Uncertainty Complexity Ambiguity), which briefly defines a period that began in the early 1990s with the war in Afghanistan and the fall of the Berlin Wall, and continues with a succession of crises.
Crises such as terrorism, amplified since 2001 – climate chaos – financial crises – COVID crises – war in Europe – food, water and energy crises – inflation – stagflation – new carbon laws – artificial intelligence that threatens to dominate our IQ (vital energy)…
The VUCA world is an environment that encourages disruption, so it’s essential to know how to deal with it. By using the VUCA strategy in their forecasts, companies are preparing for change.
To be ready to adapt to the world that is changing before our eyes at breakneck speed, it’s a good idea to remember a few simple rules of Asian wisdom:
Fight like a Ninja with a well-trained combat team and have an adapted strategy (don’t be predictable). All the while respecting ethics and loyalty!
Taking inspiration from nature.
Maintain a zen attitude: stay calm, in your own bubble of confidence, do some sport.
Drawing inspiration from Nature for its art of camouflage, or in other words: remaining discreet and not sticking to closed positions, knowing how to adapt to situations.
Remain yourself by respecting the quality of positive relationships and avoiding “energy-guzzlers”. Don’t overload your diary and be positive…
At this level of the Masterclass, there was no shortage of examples from the East: the practice of the Tao or “how to learn to unlearn”.
The example of the game of Go, which prioritises cooperative action and long-term strategy. This is in contrast to Westerners’ favourite game, chess, which is based on competition and tactics.
However, business needs both depending on the circumstances, according to our master of ceremonies: “Go strategy for the long term (branding) and chess for tactics (marketing). Business will always need chess players and more and more Go players.
Last but not least, there is the metaphor of the culture of the wolf: a bloodthirsty predator, a symbol of sin and greed in the West. But in Asia, the wolf is a totem, respected and adulated for its keen sense of smell, its offensive will and its pack fighting.
How can we respond to a VUCA world?
By putting Asian philosophy into perspective, this masterclass will remind us of a few simple but effective rules.
The world is volatile? You need to know how to adapt: “it’s not the strongest who survive, but the most adapted”, according to Riaz Mall, echoing Darwin.
Is it uncertain? You need to respond by keeping an in-depth economic watch: “be wary of competitors who don’t make a fuss, who are often the most dangerous”, or by observing specialist schools, which are often at the cutting edge of the latest trends”.
The modern world is complex? We need to draw conclusions from our failures and see how they can help us succeed.
Remain flexible (don’t limit yourself) and celebrate milestone victories with your teams.
Ambiguity and its corollary: emerging risks? To prepare for this, Riaz Mall also recommends a simple method: “get in touch with insurers who are at the cutting edge of risk studies”.
In all cases, teamwork (preferably in good humour) and sharing a common vision and values are the basic rules.
*Riaz Mall is CEO of Trans Express Réunion. He was a consular judge at the Commercial Court of La Réunion (2002-2008) and then Chairman of the Training Commission at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of La Réunion (2004-2010).
He recently launched modern storage technologies inspired by the Anglo-Saxon world with IZIBOX and BOXEA.
