How To Win In a Recession Like a Ninja

February 11, 2009 · Comments

The following is a guest post by Christopher S. Penn, Chris Brogan’s PodCamp co-founder and ninja.

Way back in the 1980s, when big hair and plastic pants were de rigueur, America’s fascination with all things ninja took off as a pop culture sensation that never left. Beneath the surface silliness of throwing stars, turtles, and late night USA network movies laid a philosophy that has never been more relevant than today.

Ninja master teacher Stephen K. Hayes called ninjutsu the art of winning, especially winning against impossible or improbable odds. Despite the deck being stacked against you, despite every obvious advantage that the opposition has, you still have to win.

Now granted, you may not be facing a crazed samurai wielding a four foot razor blade, but you’re still probably facing long odds in this economy. Let’s look at a ninja example for more clarity.

Practice on the mountainsideImagine you’ve got a sword and you’re on the field of battle. A well armed, well armored samurai is charging you, you clash, and you’re about to be overrun by what’s effectively a high speed steamroller covered in chainsaws. As you clash, you try to hold your ground but realize you’re screwed, so you strategically give way, step aside, and drop your sword on the guy’s neck, and the encounter is over.

What does this teach you about a recession? Simple. You’re being overrun, by banks, lenders, creditors, and non-buying consumers. You won’t hold your ground against the tide of the economy any more than you could hold your ground against a charging samurai. Knowing this, look for the opportunity to step aside and change your perspective – literally.

Here’s an example. If you’re in management, you need to leave your office right now, put down all the reports and slides, and go talk to your customers. If you’re in B2B, talk to your customers’ customers. Get out from inside the battle and see the conflict from a different perspective.

There is almost certainly an angle you’re not seeing. If you’re caught up in the fury of the moment, wrestling for control of a situation that is a losing battle, you will get squashed. You have to step aside, give way, so that you can change your perspective and see the opportunity that is there, but invisible to you in the heat of the moment.

Do you see operational inefficiencies from your customer’s perspective that your product or service could address but you never realized? Have you ever watched your customer use their product or service in their real, daily life, rather than the sterile product testing and Q&A lab? What can you see if you step aside and look?

Disengage from the battle, step aside, and look for the opportunity that is there. As ninja grandmaster Toshitsugu Takamatsu once said, happiness is waiting there in front of you. Only you can decide whether or not you choose to experience it.

Christopher S. Penn is the producer of the Financial Aid Podcast, co-host of Marketing Over Coffee, and co-founder of PodCamp. He’s also a 16 year practitioner of ninjutsu at the Boston Martial Arts Center, unsurprisingly located in Boston, Massachusetts.

Photo credit, Financial Aid Podcast

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  • What I have always loved about Chris is that he can boil down a life lesson into a very simple and DIRECT way so that anyone can understand it. The really hard part is for the person reading it to actually stop and put it into action.

    Great post Penn and as always I learn something out of everything you create. Keep it up.
  • This is a great post and a big lesson... thanks
  • Recessions have always been great, all great comapnies started in recessions, Apple, google, Microsoft - teaches you to be lean and focus on the really serious business, as mistakes can be crippling.

    If you survive a recession, things will be easy in the good times!
  • A wonderful post.
  • I've been considering doing a visual diary of what's going on around here. I see a gradual increase in homes for sale, homes for sale for longer periods of time; farmers trying to sell off their open lots; businesses leaving one at a time out of smaller shopping centers, more and more desperate sale signs in the windows of those that remain. This is also telling since I live in an area heavily involved in the pharma, banking and corporate America.
    You can see the bad stuff coming, and the ground signs of any recovery by driving around and talking to people- just like the folks who recommend management by walking around, you never have a real sense of what's happening unless you keep your eyes open and take a look at what's around you.
    Once you build your awareness, you can then pick a place to begin your work, and make changes that are relevant to your community, based in reality, rather than just speculation. And unless you maintain a sense of relevance, filling a need- everything else is merely window dressing.
  • Great post Chris!

    If I may add a couple of things.

    1. get out of your typical context. grab a fascinating book, go to a park, starbucks, go for a run ... it is amazing how that opens up the brain and you start coming up with amazing new perspectives and ideas you just wouldn't get sitting at you desk.

    2. if you're part of a small company or even a startup, your agility is your only weapon. if you're not close to the market and partnering with you customers so you can feel what they feel, you're like the ninja that has his hand tied behind his back and is about to get run over by the chainsaw steamroller

    cheers,
    @isfan
  • This economic shake up has caused our company to reinvent. Instead of living from project to project, we are taking a cloud's eye view and making decisions from there. Just like that 30-something professional who has found their groove and suddenly has the gusto to stop taking crap from their less-than-stellar boss, we are transforming into the company that we were meant to be.

    We don't take clients who won't take us to the next level. We are activating our knowledge in ways that directly correlate to our clients' success. And we don't take clients who look at us like we're a towel boy at a high-class club. We are on our way to running the high-class club but we're also changing the mojo of that club from high-class to the funky dive bar where everyone wants to hang out.
  • Really good post, thanks, and some of the comments are excellent as well. I'm right with Allan on getting out of your normal context. I booked into a hotel room (alone!) last night away from all distractions just to concentrate on re-evaluating some aspects of my life. It was hugely productive.
  • doug buckley
    Perhaps another approach to step out of a losing battle in a crises economy is to drop competition as the weapon of choice, and instead choose cooperation and collaboration?
  • Well said Chris. I love the analogy here because it really can feel like you are battling against impossible odds sometimes. But taking a step outside of the day to day routines to evaluate and find new opportunities is the best way to keep moving forward and stay positive about the business. Thanks for the insight.
  • I just read this post, and you've really put things into perspective for me! I thank you so much for this valuable information! This will definitely come in handy for me since I work for a new business. I've already forwarded this post to my co-workers because I found it to be so helpful.

    Thanks a bunch!
  • This post is totally made of win. What a fantastic anaology. Thanks, Other Chris!
  • With other words, go back to marketing basics! You should never have lost sight of the customer. But when times are good and the sales are rolling in, we tend to forget.
  • Instead of looking at our current economic situation as a problem. We should all look at it as an opportunity to grow or get going. I have never understood the doom and gloom crowd. I have been through all of the so called recessions since I was born in 1960 and as one of the commentators said above, some of the greatest companies have been born during times like this.

    It is a lot easier to just give up and put your head in the sand. Instead, walk tall and kick butt.
  • I'm sorry, I used to read daily, but as I am a pirate, all of this talk of ninjas is rather insulting.

    Unfortunately, simply replacing the word "ninja" with "pirate" didn't quite make sense. I will keep reading in the hopes that there is adequate pirate representation in the future.
  • Pirate references are severely MIA from most chatter, that's for sure Nick.

    I'm partial to Scottish kilt-wearing, rock throwing, dirty-faced renegades, but that's just me.
  • Good post Chris; putting yourself in your customers' shoes, thinking way outside existing paradigms, etc .... all great advice. I do have to wonder though whether simply "stepping aside" can solve the problems many businesses face at the moment. If only it were so easy. This foe is not easily avoided methinks.
  • In Northern California I have observed many outlandish things over the last decade that have directly affected the current state of the Union. Home values had reached a staggering 48 % over valued rating as well as land prices. These homes were sold with questionable loan products for years to poorly qualifying consumers. Contractors building these homes worked on the blow and go philosophy thinking it would never end.

    Well the ship has sunk like the rest of the nation, and has forced the cream to the top. Competition is the best motivatior for innovation, quality, and honesty. These so called hard times are necessary cycles to cleanse the business environment of the chaff. Now is the perfect time for Amercia to get strong again.

    Great article, thank you for the Ninja insight.
  • Ninjas are a great way to get any point across, methinks. Great work! Very inspiring.
  • What an awesome way to put that - I THANK U!! I love the Ninja insight wow.
  • I want to be a Ninja! Thanks for the guest post.... I'm sharing this positive insight with my own network of professionals. You ROCK.
    Best,
    Heather
  • The ability to sidestep in the heat of a battle comes from years of diligent practice. This isn't something you can try and do after reading a brilliant blog post.

    "We are to practice, practice with whatever we may have at hand, until the enemies of our own anger, hesitation and greed are cut down with the celerity and decisiveness of the stroke of a sword."

    Takuan Soho, The Unfettered Mind. Writings from a Zen Master to a Master Swordsman.
  • Very nice article. Very relevant too. The key would be to shed all baggage and start thinking at the PRESENT. So all reports which talked of Future forecasts and stuff should rather be allowed to just gather dust
  • I like it. It's an important message that without analyzing the work that you and your company is doing, without taking that step back you risk missing a giant opportunity because everyone is busy doing work for work's sake.

    And no matter how much work you do, the customer's perspective is the key in continuing to provide value.
  • Tom
    Great tips..Sure it will help for the starters and hardworkers of this techniques..Let them enjoy..how to fix credit score
  • Thanks for sharing.
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